Fight the Dead Fear Being without You
by Sinister Attraction
Summary: Takes place during 3x05-Rated M for later chapters. Cannon/IC. Caryl. My take on Season 3's Daryl/Carol storyline. The little scenes we DON'T get to see and an extention of the ones we do! Flashbacks of what happened between the two during the 8 months we didn't get to see up to now. She's missing -not dead and Daryl's determined to find her.
1. Remember me CH1

**So here I am again everyone; I wrote a Season 3 fanfiction. I started one during the first episode of this season then after everything that has happened I couldn't help myself –I had to write this. Forgive me now if I'm slow on updates, I'm still going through radiation and everything so I'm very tired and sick lately. :(**

**But I hope you all enjoy this story. I'm not sure how long I'm going to make it but its all Caryl baby! It starts off from 3x05 and goes into 3x06.**

**Please let me know what you all think!**

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Chapter: 1

Remember me;

"_Was she bit?"_

"_No… I … I had to cut her open."_

_Daryl thought for a moment and sighed hearing what Maggie was saying as they surveyed the area for walkers. He heard her gasp slightly as she fought back tears as she spoke to him again. _

"_Oh God," she whispered in exhaustion. "I'm so sorry about, Carol," she said softly. _

_Daryl nodded and looked ahead of him, tears threatened but nothing fell, "she had so much hope for the baby," he whispered softly with a frown._

As Daryl stared down at the baby in his arms the memory of what he and Maggie talked about not hours ago shot through his mind. The quest to find formula and clothes for the baby was easier then he thought it would be. But emotionally it was hard –it took Maggie some time but she finally calmed down once they found the preschool. Daryl had a moment inside seeing everything laid out around him; he always wondered what it would be like to have a family –to have a child of his own. It wasn't a thought that came to his mind much anymore but it was one he had, had a few times in his life. Being told he was no good for nothing always shot that dream down but Daryl had always hoped that one day he would have a family he never had.

When the world went to shit all those dreams were shattered along with it.

But then something happened… he realized that even though these people were no real kin to him –they were his family. And for one brief moment he thought maybe in some weird way he could find someone to share his life with. It was funny it took the end of the world and for Merle to be gone for Daryl to finally go for what he wanted.

He found that in Carol.

…and it wasn't just because she was a battered wife whose worthless husband had been chewed up by walkers –or because she had a child of her own –no it was because Daryl saw her heart and how badly it had been bruised. He wanted nothing more than to take her heart and heal it with his own. To keep people away from him, he was always on the defense when it came to emotions or showing affection –he had never felt love from anyone in his life and he didn't really know how to show it. The times he did show his emotions were always the worst times –he was so bad at comforting people or showing them he cared.

But when Sophia went missing, Daryl knew that was his chance to prove to himself and to the group that he wasn't some heartless monster; Merle may have led the group to believe he was. Daryl was nothing like his brother –they were complete opposites in so many ways. But when they met up with the group originally Merle had told him it was them or nothing –that these people didn't matter. Although Daryl was a grown man and could think for himself, Merle had always had that hold on him and it scared him at times to think that his brother of all people could keep him down as bad as Merle used to. After his brother went missing it hurt him to think he'd never see him again –but in some twisted way Daryl was glad he was gone. He felt like he could finally breathe for the first time in his life. There was no one there putting him down, he had people around him that relied on him for so much. He was the reason they ate every night and he wanted to be the reason Carol found her happiness again.

He did everything he could to find Sophia and he failed her. He failed them both and in the time he looked for her he bonded with Carol. Emotionally he let her in more than he would have liked to admit to himself but he did and she let him in a whole lot more. He wasn't sure what he was expecting out of Carol when he found her daughter –maybe the family he always wanted or maybe just a good friend that he could confine in that wasn't his brother or Rick. All he knew was he would never truly know –Sophia was supposed to be his saving grace –she was supposed to be the one to give him what he always wanted.

She failed him… but most of all he failed her.

It took him a long time to get over what happened at the farm, he had spent the first month away from the farm ignoring Carol. He wasn't as mean to her as he was towards the end but ignoring her was just as bad. It wasn't until the day she finally stood up to him –she told him everything he didn't want to hear but he knew deep down was the truth. It was the first time since he had known her, that she had shown any real sign of _strength_. He was proud of her and from that day on they were friends. She had become his partner in crime so to speak –he taught her how to shoot a gun and fend for herself when she needed to. She was an ok shot for the most part but she had heart and that was the most important part. He knew she wanted to do more for the group then just help feed and take care of them. Making sure everyone had clothes on their backs and food in their stomachs was a big deal and he had told her that once but she felt the need to do more and that's what made Daryl love her so much.

_Yeah love…_

His thoughts were finally pulled away from him when he heard the baby start to fuss. He smiled down at her and glanced up the group watching him carefully. He felt a little embarrassed showing this side of himself –hell he never thought he had this in him to be like this with a baby. He never held one in his entire life, but for some reason a fatherly instinct crept up inside of him and he knew what he was doing. Or at least he thought he knew what he was doing –it must have been something right seeing how no one stopped him at least.

"Here let me take her," Beth said finally as Daryl hesitated for a moment and handed the baby over to the blonde.

It was still in the early morning hours as they all gathered in their cell block to finally wine down after the events of the days before. None of them had really slept in days – losing T-Dog, Lori and Carol was a big break in the group. It put a damper on everyone emotionally and physically. Daryl sometimes felt like he couldn't go on and that wasn't like him –he had never mourned over anyone or anything in his entire life. He knew if he stopped to mourn over the loss of Carol, now, he would never recover. He had to keep pushing forward –he had to do something right for this group and if helping take care of little ass kicker was the way to do it then by God he was going to. In the honor of Lori, Carol and Sophia he would do his best to keep this child safe. It was his own personal quest for redemption from everything that had gone on in his life the last year or so. The only thing that made him sad was the baby would never really have its mother or father for that matter. Rick hadn't come out from the boiler room in over a day and they were all wondering what to do from here on out.

He knew if Carol was here she would be in mother mode and this baby would be fussed over so much more than it already was.

"Has anyone talked to Rick?" Maggie asked finally as she passed out the bowls of oatmeal to everyone. It wasn't much but right now it was all they had until they decided what they were going to do in the cleared out cellblock.

"Everyone alright?"

Everyone looked up to see Rick. He appeared normal –he was clean, blood free –and sane.

Possibly.

"We're fine, how about you?" Hershel said to him.

Rick ignored the question and looked around the room avoiding eye contact with everyone. "Cleared out the boiler room," he said quickly. "I just came to check on Carl," he said patting his son on the back quickly striding over to Daryl.

"Everyone have a gun and a knife?"

Daryl looked up at him and nodded, "we're runnin' low on ammo," he said quietly.

"Maggie and I are going to do a run today, see what we can find," Glenn spoke up from behind Rick. After what happened yesterday when he tried to pull the man out of the mental slumber he was in he knew not to get close to him.

Rick was dangerous.

"Cleaned out the generator room… in case somethin' happens we have a place ta' go, gonna do a sweep of the lower levels later," Daryl said quickly seeing Rick nod to him before making his way back to the gate he came from.

"Rick, wait…" Hershel said but there was no stopping him. Rick was gone before anyone else could get a word out.

It was quite among the group again and everyone looked around and finally eyes settled on Carl. The kid seemed to be holding his own pretty well right now –but he was just as bad off as the baby. He lost his parents –he had to kill his own mother and his father didn't seem to want anything to do with him or the new baby. Daryl was no dummy, he knew Rick didn't think the baby was his and they all faced it over the winter –they all knew it was Shane's but it was never up for discussion. The baby was here now and that was all that mattered –it was a new life saved.

"So what do you want to name her, Carl?" Beth said suddenly breaking the sad silents. The girl wanted to nothing more than to make her friend happy. But seeing the neutral look on his face she frowned looking up at her sister.

"I think ass kicker's pretty good," Oscar said hearing a few chuckles from the group.

Daryl smiled at that –that's what he was going to call her regardless if –when she got her official name. The kid was a fighter and he was going to make sure she stayed that way. They weren't going to lose her –not this girl. Daryl would make sure of it. As he looked around the room his eyes fell on Carl again, the kid didn't seemed to be amused by anything anyone was saying so Daryl spoke up finally.

"How's 'bout we worry about that later?" he said leaning up off the steps he was sitting on. "He's comin' with me an' Oscar … maybe find some more ammo if it hasn't already been picked clean," Daryl said seeing the boy finally look up at him. Daryl just nodded to him and went about his business before the sweep.

D/C/D/C/D/C

Glenn and Maggie took off first to see what they could find. Daryl stayed close and went for a quick hunt around the wooded area of the prison. He wanted to hunt this morning but after visiting Carol's grave he went into the woods and silently cried to himself asking so many questions that would forever go unanswered. He knew how it felt now to lose someone he cared about –sure he knew how he felt when they lost one of their own but never had they lost someone he loved.

Daryl loved her. He loved Carol with every fiber of his being.

He would never be able to tell her that now –so much did he want to express himself this morning when he put the Cherokee Rose he found on her pile of dirt. But there was no body there and even if there was she would never hear him. It would be pointless to talk to a pile of nothing.

"Down this way," Oscar said softly as lead the way down the opposite side of their cell block.

After Maggie and Glenn had been gone for about an hour, Daryl came back from his hunt and gathered up weapons and he, Carl and Oscar all set out to the lower levels of the prison. He knew it was probably over run by walkers –the whole fucking place was but if they could clear out more space it would be so much easier for them all to escape if the time ever came.

"Sophia," Carl whispered softly looking up at Daryl.

Daryl's head snapped down to look at the young boy with the gun in his hand, Daryl furrowed his brows looking at him. It took him a moment before he realized what Carl was talking about, he sighed and swallowed hard looking out ahead of him as they walked the dimly lit hall way.

"I want to name her Sophia," Carl said once again.

Daryl didn't really know how to tell him that he didn't think it was a good idea. There was only one Sophia… one Carol, one Lori … one –of everyone. Although he thought it was nice and he knew Carol would think it was thoughtful but knowing that this child may grow up and talk and finally fight to survive for herself –calling her Sophia would hurt. The name rolling off his tongue would feel wrong in so many ways.

"What was yer' grandma's name?" Daryl asked him suddenly seeing the boy eye him curiously from the corner of his eye.

"I didn't know my d –dad's mother… but my grandma was Judith… why?"

"That's a nice name ta' call the kid," he said quickly. Knowing that he would have to explain himself he spoke up once more, "S –Sophia was named after her grandmother…" he said all in one breath. He remembered Carol telling him about it a few months ago when they decided to play a game of twenty questions.

That was when he found out her favorite color was green and her favorite band in high school was Bon Jovi. She also told him how she was choir –that was always his favorite story because usually he could get her to sing for him if he got her comfortable enough.

She had a beautiful voice… he'd never hear it again.

He'd never get to touch her again, hear her laugh or look into those big icy hues he loved to get lost in from time to time.

All the anger rose up inside of him again thinking about her. She was fucking dead –nothing he could do about it now. He had to learn to let go because if he didn't he'd end up going fucking crazy. He didn't want that for himself and he knew Carol sure as hell didn't want to see him like this –besides he knew sooner or later he would be the one in charge of the group. There was no way in hell Rick would be able to retain the position he was forced into.

"Shh! Wait," Oscar said holding his hand out behind him to stop the two of them from walking.

Daryl threw his crossbow out in front of him and eyed the target before walking slowly out in front of Oscar –there were walkers –about a dozen of them.

As they took them out left and right –Carl ran out of ammo leaving him to fight with an axe next to Oscar. Daryl shouldered his crossbow and used his knife –it would save on time picking the arrows out of the walkers eyes. They needed to get this done and get it done fast. Seeing a walker staggering towards him, he kicked it in the stomach before pulling his knife out and stabbing it right in the back of the head. It penetrated through the eye socket and when he pulled the knife out of the walkers skull the walker started to fall back into him.

Daryl pushed it against the wall and took in a few deep breaths looking over and Oscar and Carl who were walking towards him now cautiously. Daryl rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand before looking down at the lame brain on the ground slouched over. It took him a moment for his eyes to adjust to what he was seeing but when he did he leaned down looking at the walker carefully.

"What is it?" Oscar asked him quickly.

Daryl squinted and gasped slightly. Sticking out of the walkers cheek was a knife. One that looked familiar to him –one that used to be his.

"This is Carol's knife."

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**So was this good enough to continue on or no? If anyone reads this chapter/story and you read my other Caryl fanfictions –I want to say think you all again!**

**For all my new readers thank you as well… I hope you enjoyed Chapter: 1 everyone. The idea of Daryl wanting his own family came to mind after I read a few interviews and thoughts from fans. It makes sense if you really think about it –there really was NO reason for him to look for Sophia. He and Carol had no ties together before she went missing so I think he latched onto Carol and Sophia because he realized that this woman was hurting because she was missing her daughter. Never having a family himself it made him realize that he wanted nothing more than to take that hurt away from her. At least to me that's what it meant? Makes for an interesting story, no?**

**But anyone who knows me and my Caryl fanfictions knows I like to keep things cannon and in-character, so I hope I did that well? I always fear I'm no good at it! The scene between Daryl and Maggie is a cut scene from that episode, hopefully it will be on the Season 3 DVD. **

**I hope this is good enough to continue on?**

**Your positive reviews would be lovely!**

**Thank you all so much!**


	2. Screwed CH2

**WOW! Is all I can say; your reviews have BLOWN me away! I wasn't expecting such a wonderful response like that –you all are so great. Thank you all so very much for the positive reviews and well wishes.**

**I only hope this chapter lives up to what you all expect. I had to cut the chapter in half because if I didn't it would have never ended. Hehe. So with that said I hope you all like this chapter.**

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Chapter: 2

Screwed;

"_Do you ever think 'bout 'er?"_

"_Every day."_

_He sighed nodding to her before averting his eyes back to the road. _

"_D –do you?" she said almost in a whisper. It was ridiculous of her to ask such a question but for some reason she needed to know. _

_He was silent for a while before looking over at her quickly, "all the time," he finally admitted. "Think 'bout how I failed you… both," he said looking away from her now. He didn't know why he started the conversation about Sophia but it had been bugging him lately how she felt on the whole situation. _

"_Daryl," she whispered faintly tucking her gun in the front of her pants. "Daryl," she whispered once more seeing him look away from her. _

_They had come a long way in the last few months she would hate to think this conversation would keep him at arm's length again. She sighed and frowned before getting the courage to step closer to him, she could feel the winter wind whip around her face. She shivered suddenly and jumped at his sudden movement as he turned to look at her now. _

"_Don't do that to yourself," she whispered standing mere inches from him now. His body heat radiated onto her in waves and all she wanted now was to move in closer to him. "Or to me," she said carefully swallowing hard. She watched as he furrowed his brows looking at her intensely now and as he opened his mouth to speak she shook her head and reached her hand up to his cheek. She felt his cheek hesitated to relax under her touch before she ran her thumb along his jawline and spoke once more. "You did everything you could for her… and for me, I don't think you'll ever understand how much it meant –means to me what you did for us," she said all in one breath before dropping her hand from his warm cheek. _

_She watched him squint at her and chew on his bottom lip before looking out ahead of him then back to her with a simple nod. She knew he understood what she meant –Daryl was a man of many emotions –ones in which he never let show. But they had been close the past few months and Carol was starting to read him better than she ever thought she would. _

Carol gasped as she woke up in darkness.

Every since she had been lost in the prison or outside the prison –she had no idea where she was right now all she knew was she was alone and terrified She had no one to watch her back –her only weapons were gone and every time she tried to leave the room she was in she was chased back by walkers. She would have screamed for help but that would only rile the walkers up and the door she wasn't sure was going to hold much longer. The times she did get to rest were always bad, the memories she had from the past always haunted her. Not that they were all bad memories but the good ones even reminded her that she may never get to re-live them again.

She may die soon and that scared her even more then the walkers outside the door right now.

Carol had been a whole new person these last eight or nine months –she had come out of her shell and finally started to live for the first time in her life. The group had been closer than they had ever been –they worked together as a team… as a family and that was the first time she felt wanted in a long time.

Ed never needed her for anything –sometimes she thought he only kept her around because he needed someone to abuse, physically and mentally. He needed someone he could look down on to make himself feel more inferior. The only person who ever truly wanted her was Sophia –her daughter relied on her for everything and Carol was willing to give it to her. Sophia was the best thing she had ever done with her life and now that was gone Carol didn't have much to live for.

That was until Daryl Dixon came waltzing into her life.

After the farm had been invaded by walkers and they all set out on a journey to a new life somewhere else, he was the one to shadow her every move suddenly. At the farm he hated her –or at least he pretended too but once they knew they had to move on he was right there always in sights. It wasn't until one early winter morning that she gave him a piece of her mind it didn't go over too well –he was mad at her for actually sticking up for herself.

But he must have gotten over it because every since that day they had become the best of friends. It was so odd to call Daryl her best friend –a year ago she would have never dreamt of it, but nonetheless he was. He was her rock in so many ways. She never would have imaged him being comforting like he was –he had shown a hint of it when Sophia was missing but never like he had now. They had never done anything physical it was always with words but those were always enough for her. They joked around and she got him to smile a lot, she loved to see him smile it was the best part of being around him.

He always made her happy.

He always knew the right things to say in her most down moment.

Carol brought her knees up to her chest as she listened to the walkers scratch at the door from the other side. She felt he tears well up in her eyes as she closed them tightly trying to block out the sound. She knew crying would do her no good but right now it was all she had –this whole situation was messed up.

T-Dog had taken his own life to save her own and this was the first time she cried about it. She didn't have time to think about it before –she had been running for her life for the last twenty-four hours. She had never been so tired in her life –tired physically and mentally.

It would only be a matter of time before she knew it was due or die.

D/C/D/C/D/C

After Daryl had pulled the knife out of the walkers' cheek he examined it carefully before standing up on his feet. He looked around panicked and saw Carl and Oscar watching him carefully. There was no fucking way this walker made it from one end of the prison to the other –these things were fucking stupid –they had no mind of their own and if it did stagger its way down this hall there had to be a reason.

"I thought you said… she was dead?" Carl asked carefully watching as Daryl stared down at the knife in his hand.

Daryl's head snapped up, he grunted in frustration before swallowing hard. He felt his heart leap in his chest –what little food that was in his stomach felt like it wanted to come back up. All this time he thought she was dead.

Dead.

If she was still alive this meant she had no weapon with her –nothing to defend herself. He remembered her taking her gun and she always had the knife on her. He told her no matter what to keep it on her at all times. He found her gun –it was empty next to what was left of T-Dog and this knife was the last bit of evidence to prove that maybe she was alive.

"There was no body," Daryl finally said gripping the knife in his hand tightly. He put his back up against the wall and slid down it sitting Indian style on the cold concrete ground.

"T-Dog… he –he could have ate her? Another walker maybe?" Carl said softly.

Daryl looked down at the knife as he twirled the tip of the blade on the ground as the hilt of the knife spun slowly on his palm.

"How would her knife get down 'er then?" Daryl snapped quickly looking up at the both of them. The look on Carl's face made him regret his tone immediately but he recovered quickly. "Nah –she's down 'er," Daryl finally decided. "T' was at the other end of the prison by our cell block, she ran." He paused for a moment looking down at the knife again, "she's alive," he whispered to himself.

Carl looked around and sighed, "l –let's find her then!" he said with hopefulness.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"_Do you think we'll be heading out again tomorrow?"_

_He sighed and looked out the window of the bedroom, there was a perfect view of the fenced in back yard. _

"_One night," he said softly moving the curtain back to look over his shoulder at Carol sitting on the bed with her palms flat on the mattress, "we'll risk too much if we stay any longer," he said once more watching her head come up. _

_Carol sighed and nodded to him. It was just starting to become warm out again, the winter weather was slowly fading away. They had been on the run since –well since the farm. They never stayed more than two days at one place. It was too dangerous if they did._

"_Who gets the bed?" she finally said rocking up and down on it. "Not very comfortable," she said with a sly grin. She watched Daryl set his crossbow against the wall by the open door. He had watch earlier that day and now it was his turn to sleep. _

_This was always a hard decision between the two of them, whenever they stopped at places that had limited number of beds they were always paired together. Which Daryl didn't mind knowing that his only other option would be T-Dog, Hershel or Beth. Frankly shacking up with one of the guys was not something he wanted to do and Beth was just out of the question all together. Besides he liked this time with Carol, they had their best talks when it was time to settle in for the evening at one place. _

_Daryl jumped backwards on the bed slightly hearing her giggle faintly, "well if it aint that comfortable ta' ya' I'll sure as hell take it, beats sleepin' on the floor!" He said laying back with his eyes closed and his hands going up behind his head. _

_Carol chuckled and rolled her eyes before leaning up off the bed. She grabbed one of the pillows and threw it to the ground before removing her sweater to cover herself._

"_You know 'em not serious," he said leaning up off the bed. Before she could bend all the way down to the ground he reached up quickly grabbing her wrist –gently of course. They both froze at that moment, faces were mere inches from each other and Daryl seemed to be in lock down gazing into her sea blue eyes. "Git' yer' ass up 'er, I'll take the floor," he said. He felt her lean up more as he dropped her wrist carefully. _

"_You're not sleeping on the floor, Daryl," she said softly. _

"_Fine," he said rolling his eyes leaning over the bed to grab the pillow that she put on the floor before he scooted over and patted the bed next to him. "Lay down 'er and shut it, I need my beauty sleep," he said hearing her chuckle. He smiled then but hid it of course. She brought out a whole new side of him –it was nice to not be mean. She actually understood him and no one in his life other than Merle got who he was. _

_They were so much alike it was almost scary. _

_He watched her hesitated for a moment. They slept side by side outside but never in a bed before and the twin bed would be cramped but he was willing to swallow his nerves and let her sleep next to him. _

"_You're not one of those people who hog all the blankets are you?" she asked finally finding her nerve to sit and lay next to him. _

_Shoulder to shoulder._

"_M' not really sure," he mumbled with his eyes closed. "Never been in the position fer' someone ta' tell me," he said –eyes still closed. _

_Carol was quite then as she looked over at him carefully. He was a fast sleeper and that surprised her because of the schedules they were all on. She waited a few minutes before finally rolling over on her side facing him._

"_Well… I'll let you know in the morning then," she whispered to him pulling the blankets up around both of them. _

Memories were the only thing that were keeping her going right now. The small closet or room she was in was slowly starting to get to her. Small spaces and her were not the best of friends –she was terrified of small spaces. The moaned and groaning outside the door didn't help either –she needed to get a way out. The small window that was high on the wall would do her no good, she was skinny as a rail but even if she could get up there to bust it the small block window would never be big enough to get her through it.

She would die trying to escape before a walker would ever get to her.

No she had to think of something fast, walkers were stupid and the smallest noises would throw them off. But that could also mean trouble for her too –they were dumb creatures but they were also smart when it came to getting the kill. She was defenseless right now and that was all she needed was to have a plan she hadn't thought of yet, go to pieces.

She was going into this knowing that she may die. But she would rather die knowing she tried to escape then just giving up and rotting away inside this room she was in now.

She was screwed in every sense of the word, she knew by now everyone thought she was dead. That is if everyone made it or if they hadn't left the prison for safety already.

That was another thing she had to consider right now; what if she did escape and the others were all dead or had left her there?

She could fight with a weapon if she had too and she was an alright shot –but with no gun or no knife she was…

Screwed.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"It's gettin' late," Daryl said as they stalked around the next corner of the lower level. "Ya' should get back ta' the cellblock," Daryl said looking down at Carl.

"No," the boy said shaking his head. "I wanna help," he said quickly.

Daryl wanted to smile at what he was saying but he couldn't bring himself to it. There was no time for it, he needed to find Carol and find her fast. He picked up on a blood trail but it ran cold when they got to one of the storage rooms. He knew they had been gone for some hours now and the others were probably worried about them. But he had to keep moving on –until he found her or… God forbid a body he wasn't giving up. There was no fucking way he was giving up on Carol, she meant way too much to him for him to just go back to their cellblock now especially after what they found.

"We're not leaving you down here, man," Oscar said pulling out the flashlight from the pocket of his jumpsuit. Turning it on he flashed it out ahead of them seeing Daryl nod to him finally. As they kept moving forward Oscar spoke out again, "I'd do anything to see my girlfriend again," he said softly seeing a faint smile on Carl's lips.

Daryl grunted softly he wasn't going to respond to that –he wasn't sure what Oscar was trying to say other than the obvious but he got enough shit from T-Dog and Glenn all winter about what they thought was going on between him and Carol. There was nothing there but friendship –a bond that had formed from two lonely broken people who understood each other like no other. In that time Daryl had no problem admitting to himself that he felt love for the woman –it took him a long time to acknowledge it himself. He just didn't have it in him to tell her –he was no good with relationships or people really.

At least he wasn't a year ago.

This group had changed him a lot –he was a calmer more understanding person now so these feelings didn't surprise him as much as he thought they would.

Pushing his thoughts aside he moved forward to a fork in the hallway. Other than the sounds of their breathing and walking Daryl heard something else. It sounded like a soft hissing sob –not the sound a walker would make. Or at least he had never heard a walker make this noise before.

"Hold on," Daryl hissed out softly holding his hand up for the other two to stop their stride. Closing his eyes he listened again hearing the noise go faint, he grabbed the flashlight from Oscar and flashed it out ahead of him looking for any signs of life or the dead.

Walking slowly and carefully against the far wall Daryl stopped suddenly seeing something out of the corner of his eye. Squinting, he moved carefully towards the red fabric and …blood. Quickly shouldering his crossbow he handed Oscar the flashlight before looking carefully at the bloody rod. Whatever it was it tore a good chunk of skin, blood and fabric from whatever hit it. Gasping he motioned Oscar to move the flashlight down to the ground and saw a good amount of blood in a puddle dripping up along the hall.

Daryl knew that fabric anywhere –it was from Carol's red shirt she had worn most of the winter. But what the fuck was up with the blood and chunk of skin was clinging to the metal rod that was protruding from the wall. There wasn't a lot of blood but enough to make him panic now –had she made it this far only to get caught by….

"Walker!" Carl yelled.

D/C/D/C/D/C

Fifteen minutes ago;

She had finally decided the only way to get out of this was to run.

She had to open the door and do her best to plow through the walkers that were outside. It was the only way for her to get out of this room.

With a shiver she finally stood feeling around for anything she could use for a weapon. She had realized not thirty minutes ago she was inside of a storage closet. It wasn't a big one but one that apparently held a lot of supplies because when she first ran inside she stayed back against the side wall. She didn't care what was around –as long as it wasn't walkers she was ok. But now it was getting to her, she had to get out of here and if she survived and the others were dead she had to do her best to push on.

She couldn't give up.

She had to push on for herself, for Sophia, for Daryl –for her family. She knew the others would want her too.

With what little light the small window gave off, Carol felt around the room. There was a janitors cart with what felt like a wood rods on each side. After feeling around some more she realized it was a mop and broom.

"Alright," she whispered to herself. "Carol… you can do this," she said softly pulling out the broom stick.

Lucky for her the door opened from the outside so when she pushed through whatever was in the way would be pushed away by the door. Reaching with a shaky hand to unlock the door she moved back quickly pushing the cart out in front of her. She plowed through the door to the outside hallway. She felt something grab at her sweater and just as she pulled away she swung the broom stick in front of her not caring what she hit. She watched the walker stumble back and saw about five others stumbling towards her.

All she did was run –it was all she could do. She couldn't fight off all those walkers with just a broom stick. It would be a worse death sentence then plowing through that door like she just had. Turning a corner she looked back hearing another groaning noise coming from behind her and just as she turned to look ahead of her she bit her tongue to muffle a scream feeling something thick and hard rip through her shoulder and down her upper arm. Carol hissed in pain, panting slightly she gripped her bloody shoulder and kept running forward.

The tears stung her eyes as she blinked them away to clear her vision for what was ahead of her. She saw another door that was halfway open and without thinking she lunged forward diving into the room sliding forward onto the floor. Thinking of walkers chasing her and the excruciating pain that was shooting through her side now, she never stopped to think if there were walkers inside the room she just bounded into.

D/C/D/C/D/C

Pulling the arrow out of the walkers' eye before it could go down, Daryl kicked it away from him hearing Carl and Oscar grunting behind him to kill the walkers that were suddenly chasing them. They came out of nowhere –they hadn't really encountered any since they found Carol's knife about thirty minutes ago. Pulling his knife out Daryl jumped forward plunging the blade into the side of the lame brains head.

"Come on!" he called out watching the light from Oscar come closer behind him. As they jogged down the hallway Daryl kept an eye on the blood trail that was on the ground before he stopped seeing blood smeared on the wall and door that was in front of him now.

He swallowed hard looking over his shoulder at Oscar and Carl; there was a lot of blood. There was the red fabric –the skin and most importantly her knife. If they had come all this way to find her and he was too late –he would never be able to live with himself.

That racing feeling in his heart started again –he suddenly felt scared as he opened the door carefully.

He gasped looking down at the floor –the scared feeling had increased more to what he saw.

"Carol?!"

* * *

**So what did you all think? Was it good or no?**

**More importantly –should I continue this story?**

**I didn't mean to leave it with a cliffhanger like that –but I had no choice. It would have been the world's longest chapter if I didn't! So that means half of Chapter 3 is finished now. I hope this is good enough to continue on?**

**Did I stay in character ok? Other then if my writing is ok, I'm always concerned I'm not IC. With tonight's episode and all the spoilers and pictures I've seen I think this is how it should go down. Unfortunately I have a BAD feeling they end tonight's episode with Daryl sitting by that wall looking at Carol's knife and that scene doesn't continue until next week. I REALLY hope it doesn't –but if it does I hope my chapter update helps you with it.**

**Please let me know what you all think about this chapter – I can't tell you all enough how thankful I am for your reviews, you all are just so great! Enjoy tonight's episode everyone. I hope to update soon with CH 3 –let me know what you think!**


	3. This is how I care CH3

**You all are so outstanding! I can't believe the positive response I've gotten so far over the last two chapters. Anyone who knows me and has read my stories before knows I love positive reviews –so with that said… thank you!**

**This chapter I feel is NOT my best work =( I know being sick is not an excuse but I have so much on my mind it's hard to concentrate sometimes. Radiation has taken a toll on me the last few weeks so I'm in another world at times.**

**But I hope this chapter is ok and you all enjoy it?**

* * *

Chapter: 3

This is how I care;

Daryl said her name just as Carl and Oscar barged through the doors behind him. Daryl took a moment to collect his thoughts before seeing her try to pull herself up off the ground one handed. Suddenly he went to his knees next to her feeling her body slightly collapse into his. On instinct his arms wound around her quickly, one hand around her thinning waist the other around her shoulders has he pressed his hand firmly against her open wound. She seemed so weak and fragile in that moment. Apart of him was scared she was bit and the other part of him was scared that if he let her go he'd lose her again. He felt her shake slightly in that moment –there wasn't a lot of blood loss but enough to make him worried considering she looked like hell run over twice. She was covered head to toe in blood –her clothes were torn on her body and she looked like she had put up one hell of a good fight.

She did something right obviously if she made it this far.

"Ah, shit," Oscar said suddenly breaking into Daryl's thoughts. "We got more comin'! We gotta go, come on!" Oscar yelled once more.

Without hesitation Daryl slipped his arms under her knees and the other around her back, he lifted her gracefully off the ground and started for the door. He felt her body relax into his –she was a lot lighter then he imagined she was.

Two days without food and water wouldn't do this much damage –no she was undernourished from caring too much if others ate first. He knew that was just her nature to care for others but it pissed him off sometimes that she cared more about everyone else then herself.

Brushing those thoughts and feelings aside he heard her groan faintly against his shoulder as he bolted out the room behind Carl and Oscar. He pulled her up more into his body at that moment feeling her fingers tickle his neck as she struggled to move her head higher up on his shoulder. He did his best to hold her tight in that moment –he wanted her to know that he was there for her; he wasn't going to let anything happen to her anymore if he could help it.

"The keys!" Daryl shouted to Carl.

Carl rushed back to Daryl fumbling on the hunters' side to gather the keys to their cell block. They had a ways to go and Carl knew that if they didn't clear the way now they would all be in deep trouble.

Although Carol was light Daryl had to stop a few times to adjust her –at this point she was almost passed out in his arms. He wanted to keep her awake, he feared if she fell asleep… she wouldn't wake up again and that was a thought he didn't want consuming his mind right now.

"Keep yer' eyes open fer' me, woman," Daryl whispered to her softly as his pace picked up towards their cellblock. He heard her mumble –or at least she was trying too but it was nothing but a weak sigh.

Carol felt her body bounce the moment Daryl lifted her up off the ground, her first thought was that this all couldn't be real. She had spent all this time thinking everyone had died or left the prison to get to safety. But with every squeeze Daryl gave her when he pulled her closer to his warm body she knew this was all really happening.

Her sudden surge of adrenaline had worn out by this point. Being locked in that closet for a day or two took its toll on her mentally and physically. It took everything in her to get out of the closet and fight off the last of those walkers and the moment her body collided with the floor she knew she was down for the count. Her whole arm was hurting something awful now and she could tell by Daryl's hand slipping every now and then the bleeding had gotten worse.

By this point Carol was too exhausted to be happy he found her –she was too exhausted to think that if she didn't get stitched up soon she would turn into one of the walking dead. She knew keeping those thoughts to herself were the best thing –she could feel the anger and tension rolling off Daryl in waves. Yet his hold on her was like no other –she felt fragile in his arms they were so tight wrapped around her. She could hear Oscar yelling something and a clanking noise of keys being dropped and picked up. She suddenly felt too tired to even hear anything that was going on around her. When she felt a rumbling against her side she jolted slightly to see Daryl holding her still, yelling for her to open her eyes.

It was like she went momentarily deaf and as her eyes rolled under their lids her head fell into something warm and coulis –Daryl's hand. It was cupping her cheek gently as he tried to get her attention by slightly tapping her cold skin.

"Carol," he said softly looking down at her as her eyes crossed and opened. Those eyes –those beautiful blue eyes he thought he'd never see again were finally looking back at him. He could tell she was in a daze but as long as her eyes were open and she was coherent he was ok.

"Get Hershel!" Daryl yelled out to whoever was listening. When they entered the cellblock he went to the nearest room and sat down with her in his lap. He tore away the rest of the sleeve that had already been ripped apart before holding the fabric tightly to her open bloody wound.

"Hey," he whispered seeing her eyes open and close again, "stay with me now," he whispered once more moving his now bloody hand to her cheek once again. His thumb stroked her jawline softly and when he did he swore he saw the side of her mouth twitch into a trying smile.

If Carol didn't know any better she would have sworn she'd seen tears in his eyes. Nothing spilled over the edges but she knew they were there even through her blurry vision. As she struggled to stay away she felt his hand hesitate along her body –she knew he was checking for bite marks and as she opened her mouth to say something a faint moaning admitted from her lips through her words.

"I'm not bit," she whispered so softly to him. She must have startled him because he flinched slightly.

He swallowed hard with a deep sigh nodding faintly to her before averting his attention back to the doorway. He wasn't sure what was going on but Beth came rushing through the cell door with a kit in her hand.

"Oh, God Carol!" she squealed softly not wasting any time to work on her shoulder.

Just as the needle penetrated her numbing shoulder Carol finally saw black again.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"_Merle?"_

"_We have to go."_

"_Carol will be fine, I promise."_

"_The Governor …. Dangerous man… Andrea… your people."_

"_Glenn… Maggie."_

"_Get some rest… time ya' wake up… I'll be back… promise."_

Carol moaned softly as the words of several different people swarmed her head. She heard a conversation going on earlier in the prison as she fell in and out of a non-peaceful sleep. When she finally did start to stir she moaned softly –painfully before her eyes rolled under the lids fluttering open. She felt something warm on her forehead and as her eyes finally adjusted she saw Hershel above her with his hand to her.

"No fever," he said with a weak smile.

Carol took a few moments to wake up before she tried to sit up in the bed, but no sooner had she done that she felt Hershel push her back down onto the bed. Just as Carol opened her mouth to speak she heard a gurgling cry. Her brows furrowed inward as she lifted her head to look up to see Beth walking into the cell doorway with a baby in her arms. Carol cracked a smile finally seeing Beth feed the baby; it was wearing pink so she knew it had to be a girl.

"W –what's her name?" she said softly.

"She doesn't have one yet," Beth said softly smiling at Carol.

"Judith." Carl said suddenly appearing behind her. "I named her after my grandmother," he said softly looking at Carol.

Carol smiled at him faintly and as she struggled to sit up she finally felt Hershel help her.

"Easy now," he said putting one hand on her back to help her sit up better.

"How's Lori?" Carol asked innocently.

When the room went quite Carol knew instantly that Lori didn't make it through child birth. With tears forming in her eyes she spoke out quietly, "what happened?"

"Maggie –she… she had to cut her open," Carl said quickly. "I shot her before she turned," he said once more holding his head up high. He knew he had to be strong for himself and for his little sister –it hurt like hell knowing he had to kill his own mother but he really had no choice in the matter. He was thirteen now –he was no dummy especially with the way the world was –he knew his parents didn't get alone. The first thought that came into his mind when he knew his mother had to be put down before she turned, was that he couldn't let his father do it.

He took that burden.

He took the mental damage it was slowly causing him. They had all lost people they loved and cared about and he knew in time he would cope with it but right now it hurt like hell.

"I'm so sorry," Carol said looking at Carl carefully. He seemed to be coping well with it but she knew the boy well –he was being strong and for that she was proud of the boy.

As the silents filled the cell once again she closed her eyes with a deep sigh feeling pain sting her arm. Reaching over to cup her wounded shoulder she hissed out in pain.

"Here take one of these," Hershel said suddenly handing her one of the few pain killers they had. "If you can avoid taking the whole thing right now, I suggest you do so, we're running low on … everything right now." He said sadly.

"Where is everyone else?" she asked seeing the sadness on his face and the worry in his tone.

"Maggie and Glenn…" Beth started to say the moment they heard a whistling noise.

Carl grabbed the keys off his side and rushed out of the cell towards the cellblock opening.

"Lay back and rest," Hershel told her softly standing up with his crutches. He sighed softly, "I'll have Bethy come in here and help you get cleaned up," he said softly gimping towards the door.

D/C/D/C/D/C

Daryl sat there on the edge of the bed waiting like a fool for her to wake up. Hershel said she was still awake when they had gotten back but when he came into the room she was fast asleep –still covered in blood.

Rick and the others were outside of the prison when he found Carol. Apparently Glenn and Maggie had been captured by his brother and he was a part of some shady business in a small Pleasantville-like town. At least according to Michonne he was. It didn't surprise him really –Merle was always a part of shady business. Anytime trouble was around, he'd more than likely find Merle somewhere close by.

But that was just Merle.

Michonne also told them that Andrea was still alive. The only way she knew they were her group from before was because she had heard enough about them all from Andrea and the things Glenn and Maggie were saying led her to believe they were the ones in the prison. Daryl didn't spend much of his time worrying if Michonne was setting them or not because the things she was saying about Merle couldn't have been more right. The people she described he was around were much like the people he hung around with before the world went to shit.

They knew how far away the town was because of Michonne and they knew how it worked with bringing new people in. They went out to where Glenn and Maggie were taken to see what they could find and as the sun set Rick decided they couldn't go out there blinded.

They needed a logical plan. They needed to get Glenn and Maggie back with their group.

But more importantly…

Daryl needed to come back to prison to make sure Carol was ok. He didn't want to leave her when he did and although he came in and told her –promised her he would be back soon it still didn't settle well with him. He wanted to make sure she was really ok.

He did feel bad when they came back without Glenn or Maggie –the look on Beth and Hershel's faces were devastating. Rick suddenly took charge again –regained his sanity and although it baffled Daryl to no end he said nothing. He would wait and see what would happen next. In the morning they would regroup and make a plan of attack to get the others back –it would be hard and people would probably die but there was no stopping that.

They were already aware that today –this moment they were all in now could be their last.

Knowing that made Daryl on edge –especially being as close to Carol as he was now. It made him think about how he lost her. How she could have been a walker down there in the tunnels they searched earlier –he could have plunged his knife into her skull and killed her… again. He was aware of his feelings for her but suddenly it hit him hard as he sat there on the thin cot that covered the box spring. He looked over at her and saw her bloody face –she looked so calm and relaxed at that moment and when he saw her breathing pattern change he leaned back to let more light into the cell to get a clearer view of her face.

She was crying in her sleep –running and fighting. He could see it on her face and the way her body twitched. He contemplated waking her up –he had made that mistake before. He remembered waking her up from a bad dream once right after they left the farm; she was so startled she punched him. It wasn't hard by any means and didn't leave a mark but his jaw hurt for a while after that. With those thoughts he stood suddenly swallowing hard looking out to see Axel and Hershel sitting up on watch. Daryl averted his attention back to Carol and chewed on the inside of his bottom lip before running his fingers through his hair.

Her whimpering got louder and before Daryl could stop himself he leaned down and gripped her wrists. One was to stop her from fighting him and the other was to stop her from punching him again.

"Carol," he whispered softly hearing her sharp intake of breath as she sat upright wide eyed looking at him. The look on her face scared him –she had tears in her eyes and looked like she had just been stabbed or something. His eyes followed a stray tear that slipped down her cheek and as he lost grip of her wrists his hand willingly came up and his thumb caught the saltiness.

Carol watched him closely and panted softly. It wasn't until she felt the roughness of his thumb along her cheek that she realized she was dreaming again. It was funny –she had bad dreams every now and then and Daryl told her how she liked to fight and talk in her sleep. When she was locked in that closet all she had were good dreams –well not always good but most of them were and now that she was in safety of his presents they seemed to be nothing but nightmares again. She frowned at that thought and watched Daryl pull his hand away quickly before he stood to tower over top of her. Rubbing her eyes one handedly she moved to sit up better before hearing his grunt of disapproval.

"What 'er ya' doin'?" he asked her. His voice sounding gruffer then he intended.

"I need to stretch," she whispered softly.

"Ya' need ta' rest," he said.

"That's all I've been doing," she said with a deep sigh feeling a stinging pain shoot through her arm again.

"It's good fer' you."

It was silent for a moment and Daryl felt like a total idiot for just standing there watching her.

"Would you please sit… you're making me nervous," she whispered.

Her icy hues flickered up to him and as Daryl looked down at her it was like he was in a trance. Without a word he obeyed and sat down next to her, her legs stretched out behind him as he leaned back a little. There were no words spoken between them for a while, they just both sat there in silents. It was peaceful knowing she was next to him… safe. He peeked over to her quickly to see her staring off into space down at the ground.

It bothered him to _not _know what was going on through her mind.

He couldn't stand to see her face like it was –she was still in the same torn clothes she was in when he found her. With a grunt to get her attention he nodded to her and stood abruptly before walking out the cell.

Carol sighed with a frown watching him walk out.

She was pretty good at reading his moods. He was pissed, scared, worried or confused; or a combination of them all? When he was in one of his moods she knew to back off –it would only be a matter of time before he would self-destruct and then he would get over it and they would go back to being normal again. Before another negative thought could enter her mind she looked up to see him walking into the cell with a bowl of water and wash cloth. He also had a shirt draped over his shoulder and one of the emergency candles lit.

Without a word to her Daryl sat down on the cot next to her –closer than before. He knew he had to protect the whole group –they all had to protect each other. But every since Sophia went missing and Carol was all alone, Daryl made it his job to watch over her. And when he really thought about it, it really wasn't a job because he enjoyed it. As much as he hated admitting to it before – he had no problem admitting it now.

"What happened to ya' down ther'?" Daryl asked softly as he dipped the rag into the water and leaned in close to her.

Carol took in a deep breath feeling his body heat radiate onto hers as he got mere inches from her face with his own. She closed her eyes feeling his left hand come up to cup the side of her face while his other hand used the wet rag to clean her face off. Her lips parted and she gasped slightly from the contact.

Daryl took notice of her breathing pattern again as he whipped away the blood on her face the best he could.

"T was bit," she whispered opening her eyes to watch him. He wouldn't look at her, instead his eyes traveled with the motion of his hand. "He threw himself at walkers… t –to save me," she said with a whimper in her voice as she tried to fight back the tears.

"He died a hero." Was all he said. T risked his life to save Carol for that that he would always be grateful.

She shivered suddenly feeling him trace the curve of her jaw with the cold wet rag. She nodded to his words and carried on. "I ran… I had no choice," she whispered once more finally seeing his eyes avert to hers.

He could hear the cry in her voice and he knew she was doing her best to not let any tears fall. Carol had done well at showing how strong she had become over the course of the year and he was proud of her for that.

Neither of them said anymore for a while and when Daryl was done cleaning her face and neck off he watched as she washed her hands and arms up the best she could.

"Here," he said handing her one of his button up flannels that still had the sleeves attached.

"Thank you," she whispered softly taking it. She clutched his shirt to her chest watching him look at her as though he were waiting for her to rip her shirt off and put it on now. She honestly had no problem doing that if that was what he wanted. But before she could make a move he turned around with a nod to her to let her know that she could change now.

Daryl swallowed hard hearing her hiss behind him. He could hear her removing her shirt and sniffing up tears she didn't want him to see fall.

"To -," he paused clearing his throat, "tomorrow maybe I'll sweep the shower area," he said quickly hearing her make a noise of approval from behind him.

Daryl didn't know what possessed him to turn around without her telling him it was ok – but he did seeing her buttoning up the few bottoms between her chest.

"Shit, I'm sorry," he said making his way to turn his back to her again.

"It's ok, I'm dressed now," she told him.

Daryl turned to face her again slowly seeing his flannel buttoned all the way up on her. It hung on her badly –she was a bag of bones just like the rest of them. They stood there looking at each other in awkward silents again and Daryl started to become fidgety.

"I should let ya' sleep…" he finally said making no move to leave.

"Daryl," she said softly. She felt tears well up in her eyes again –she was an emotional wreck right now. She knew it would pass; she was just so overwhelmed at that moment. He had found her and she was still alive –she had survived a few days on her own fighting off walkers. That was something she never would have imagined doing. "Please don't… go," she muttered out to him.

The pain in her voice was enough to make his arms flinch out to grab her but he stopped himself. Without a word he nodded to her and they sat together side by side on the cot. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and saw another tear fall down her cheek but before he could lift his hand to wipe it away she beat him to it. She must have caught him looking at her because she spoke out then looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"Sorry," she said softly. "I know how much you love crying," she joked wholeheartedly hearing him chuckle. She smiled faintly and then she began to cry.

Daryl knew it was coming. He prepared himself for it and he was ok with it –she had a right cry and so did _he_ but he held it in.

Carol let it out all at that moment, she cried for T-Dog and Lori for Glenn and Maggie –for Carl and Judith. She cried for them all and most importantly she cried from happiness that she was still alive sitting there next to a man she cared about more than anything. In that very thought as if he was reading her mind she felt his hand go to her back. He hesitated only for a second before he ran his hand up and down to comfort her. Carol didn't hold back then, she leaned into his body –bad shoulder and all and she felt his arms circle around her carefully.

"S' ok… I found you," he whispered into her ear fighting back tears of his own. He would tell her tomorrow how he felt; it took everything in him now to hold back. But he knew Carol needed this moment to cry… with him and he was going to let her have it.

* * *

**Was it in In Character? I'm afraid it wasn't –not like it should be. I feel like I could have done better on this chapter. On the plus side it's a long chapter for you all and I hope you enjoy it. I'd like to see this happen on tonight's episode but I know we won't.**

**We probably won't get a Caryl moment either which I'm bummed about –but I hope this chapter/story helps with all your Caryl Feels =)**

**I hope to post CH 4 later this week. That is if you all want me to? Positive reviews would be lovely! They always make this girl happy and goodness knows I need smiles now!**

**Thanks for listening to my rant and reading my chapter update! I'll be getting to my reviews and PM's here soon, I promise!**


	4. Stick together CH4

**Thank you all SO much for the awesome reviews so far! I hope you all read this and enjoy it enough to leave me some positive reivews! =) There are SPOILERS for tonight's mid-season final as well. So beware! Of course the show will not go this way –but this is story is centered around our favorite couple so this is how I see it!**

**I hope you all enjoy! I will do my best to update this again later this week, new treatments start Monday so wish me luck!**

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Chapter: 4

Stick together;

When Daryl woke up this morning his neck was hurting him something awful. He ended up falling asleep on the cot with his arms around Carol. His head leaning on top of hers as she nestled into his side like a perfectly fit puzzle piece. They both ended up falling asleep before he could really express how he felt about losing her. He really had every intention on telling her how he felt last night, but everything happened so fast with finding out Glenn and Maggie were missing to Carol being taken care of. There was so much he wanted to say to her but the words never came out. She was an emotional wreck and Daryl understood why –he wasn't going to question her emotions.

He knew crying was something she needed to do and he wasn't going to take that away from her. If anything he wanted to be there for her. He wanted her to know that he was still there to lean on –he never went anywhere. If anything when he found out she had "died" he died a little too inside, of course he never told anyone that, he just kept it to himself but if he ever got the chance to tell her how he felt he would tell her that along with every other fucking emotion she made him feel.

He was sure there were plenty of opportunities this morning to tell her but no sooner had he come too, Rick was walking towards the cell to get his attention for what was going to go down that day.

The plan was to scope out the area outside of the prison to see if there was any way for them to get inside without being noticed. According to Michonne they had the place on lock down at all times –but if there was a way to get in without being noticed they would find it. The other plan was to have Michonne go back and get back inside as if nothing happened –she would be their inside spy. They knew she left on bad terms with the Governor and everyone else in the small town –but if need be she was willing to play it off.

Daryl wasn't sure what to make of the woman yet –all he knew was she looked like she could handle her own in a battle. Especially by the looks of her, she had already been through one before she had gotten to prison.

He felt bad for Hershel too, the man may have lost his daughter and he was just as calm as ever. Daryl knew that they had all come to grips that they may lose someone every time they went out, but he also knew the old man was keeping himself together for his other daughter and the rest of the group. They couldn't lose Maggie or Glenn for that matter; they were both people this group needed. Everyone played a pivotal role when it came to surviving and helping the rest of the group out, losing someone at the times they did were always hard. But at this stage of the game it always hit them harder seeing how much closer they had all become in the last nine months.

Letting his thoughts escape him, Daryl looked over to see Carol doing her best to pack a bag of things they might need if they were gone more than a day. She recovered pretty well for the most part, he knew she was still in pain by her slow movements –she looked weak still but she was doing her best to not let it show. He watched her carefully as she favored her arm and took a little more time to pack the few things she was packing, then she would have before if she wasn't injured. As he made his way over to her he watched as Beth offered to help her, of course Carol said no but Beth looked to Daryl motioning with her eyes to the baby that was in her arms. Daryl nodded and without hesitation took the small infant into his strapping arms.

Carol looked over her shoulder to see Daryl smiling down at the small bundle in his arms. This was the first time she had seen him with the baby –she hadn't even held her yet. Seeing him holding her and reaching out blinding to take the bottle out of Beth's hand, she stopped packing and turned to fully watch him with the baby. He was so good with her and it surprised her –she thought for sure he would have been afraid to hold her? The smile that slid on her lips wasn't one she was trying to hide but when he looked up at her she swallowed hard and looked into his eyes.

"Done this before?" Carol asked softly watching as he stepped towards her a little.

He shrugged, "not really," he said softly. It was true, he really never had any practice at this shit before but for some reason it came natural to him. He smiled weakly at her before averting his attention back to the baby, "you like that sweetheart?" he said to her, "yeah…" he whispered softly hearing the baby start to fuss. He rocked her a little back and forth in his arms before seeing Carol stepping closer to him. She brushed against him from the side and looked over at the small bundle in his arms.

"Carl tells me you have a special name for her," she said reaching up to brush her fingers along the babies cheek. Her eyes shot up to his when he looked at her she swore she saw a blush rise on his cheeks. She chuckled slightly, "ass kicker, huh?"

Daryl chuckled and nodded, "hell yeah," he said softly. "You wanna hold 'er?" he asked her before looking back into her eyes. He saw a frown on her lips and a confused look in her eyes, "what?" he asked concerned.

"I don't think I can," she said softly swallowing hard.

Daryl nodded hearing the double meaning in her words.

She was afraid to hold the baby.

Not just because she was hurt, but because it would bring up so many memories of her deceased daughter. Daryl thought maybe Carol had come to grips with it all and maybe she had but actually having the baby there with them might have changed her mind.

"Ya' probably shouldn't anyways," he said letting his eyes play on hers. He was letting her know he understood why she couldn't do it just yet, "that shoulder mus' be hurtin' ya' still, don't wanna do nothin' ta' make it hurt any more than it does," he said once more.

Carol smiled at him giving his upper arm a soft squeeze before going back to help Beth. She closed her fist against her side feeling the ghost of his flex beneath her touch. Those arms that were wrapped so tightly around her last night –all night; she'd do anything to feel them again. It was something she wasn't expecting from Daryl –sure they were close and he let her touch him more then he probably would have before and he touched her more then he probably touched anyone else in the group –but that was … just incredible.

Nothing physical happened between them but she felt something last night –she felt something she hadn't felt in a long time.

She felt safe… she felt loved.

Granite she always felt safe when Daryl was around but last night was something different –his hold on her was like nothing she had ever felt before. It was as if he was afraid to let her go. She never got a chance to really talk to him this morning, they exchanged a few words last night before she broke down but nothing else was said about it.

She knew Daryl and knew that what happened last night wasn't over –he would have more to say about it but was waiting for his moment to bring it up.

"There's not much in here," she said breaking into her own thoughts as she lifted the pack handing it to Daryl after he handed the baby over to Carl. "It's enough food to last you a day or two," she said with a sigh folding her arms over her chest watching as Rick gathered his gun to his side.

"We'll be back before sundown," Rick said to everyone. He looked to Hershel then, "we have to do this rationally," he said sympathetically. "We can't just barge in there without knowing the facts," he said.

"The Governor and his men will kill us all before we even step foot inside that gate," Michonne said to clarify what Rick was saying to everyone. "Unless…" she paused for a moment looking over at Daryl, "your brother sees you… he'll let you inside," she said quickly.

Daryl shook his head; he'd heard enough about what was going on inside the small town of Woodbury and what his brother was up to, to let himself be seen. That would only be giving in and Daryl wanted to get the others back with no problem. Daryl knew Merle –his brother would only expect him to join their little group and help kill walkers and innocent people to get what they wanted.

That wasn't Daryl –he was never like his brother.

"No way," he said quickly.

"He already knows you're alive," Michonne said.

"Doesn't' matter," Daryl said with an angry tone swinging his crossbow over his shoulder tossing her the back pack. "Ya' don't know Merle like I do," he said with a snarl in his voice. "Come on, we expect ta' be back by sundown we bes' get a move on," he said recovering quickly from his anger. He was already pissed to find out that his brother was still alive and was involved in some shady business –not to mention that he took Maggie and Glenn –he knew he couldn't go into this distracted. His anger would only get the best of him and Daryl wasn't about to let that happen.

Watching Rick and Michonne head towards the main gates, he heard Rick give Carl another pep talk about being the man of the group while they were gone. He turned to Carol and nodded to her before opening his mouth to say something to her. But just as fast as he opened it, it closed again. What was he to say to her? "See you soon, honey, don't wait up?" –Nah that wasn't like him but he knew he had to say something to her.

Carol could see that Daryl was conflicted on what to say to her –she smiled faintly at how unsure he was. It was funny because he never felt the need to get the last word before and now all the sudden he needed to? She wasn't sure why he did but she felt a little honored at that moment. Reaching out once more to squeeze his arm she felt him flex beneath her touch again before his eyes traveled from her hand on his arm to her face.

"The sooner you leave the sooner you get back, right?" she whispered softly seeing him nod.

"Right…" he said feeling a bit nervous before breaking away from her grip to leave with the others. He wouldn't tell her this but before he walked out of the gate completely he stole one last glance at her while her back was turned.

Daryl needed that reassurance for when he returned.

D/C/D/C/D/C

Night fall came sooner than they expected.

They were surrounded by walkers one minute and then the next being threatened by a crazy hermit who had apparently been tucked away in his cabin for the last year. He threatened to call the cops on them and when Rick told him he was one –the man when ballistic on them all and Michonne put him out of their misery before anything else ensued. Getting out of that mess wasn't as hard as they thought it was –being where they were now was an even bigger mess.

"Ya' weren't kiddin' when you said they had this place surrounded," Daryl whispered back to Michonne as they all piled around one of the outside vehicles that blocked the entrance of Woodbury.

"How many man they usually got on watch?" Oscar asked her as he shifted his axe from one hand to the other.

"About four on each side," she said looking around seeing a few familiar faces.

"_Yo, Creed –Gov' want's ta' see ya!"_

Daryl's ears perked up with the sound of a familiar voice. Noticing Rick glancing back at him he grunted and looked at him quickly before looking back to cave of junk they had piled up they were walking along.

"_Can't leave my post, you know that."_

_Merle chuckled, "don't worry, I'll take yer' post… now go on," he said shooing him away with his knife hand. _

"_He say it was ok?"_

_Merle grunted again and lifted his knife up towards the man's face, "ya' standin' er' askin' all these jackass-y questions when ya' should be goin' ta' see what the man wants."_

Daryl watched and listened from afar with the others. The sudden urge to jump out and let his brother know he was there, overcame him. Hell deep down Daryl was always looking for Merle; it was the last living kin he had left. But then he looked at him –heard his voice and he was brought back to reality –he was better off without his brother. Merle did nothing but keep him down his whole life, he never cared about Daryl but Daryl always followed along after his big brother.

That's all he ever was; Merle Dixon's baby brother.

To the family and friends he had now he was somebody. He was no longer looked at as Merle Dixon's younger brother –no he was looked at as just Daryl Dixon.

He made a name for himself among the others of the group. He didn't leave a lasting impression like Merle had –no Daryl had proved himself to the group more than once and he wanted to keep it that way. He couldn't let himself fall back into his brothers' trap. They were all there for one reason and one reason only; to get Glenn and Maggie back with their group.

"What should we do?" Oscar asked finally getting closer to Daryl and Rick. "They've got the place locked tight, aint' no way we're getting' in!"

"Come on, this way," Michonne said to them as they all backtracked from where they came from to make it around the left side of the town.

As they made it around the other side they heard more talking, townspeople mostly and then Michonne stopped in her tracks hearing a familiar voice talking.

"Shh," she whispered to them.

"_I need you tomorrow… Andrea can't know those two are here."_

There was a pause before the voice spoke again.

"_I have to keep my eye on, Dixon…" another pause._

"_Got a feeling when he sees his brother again, all hell's going to break lose." _

Daryl growled inwardly at the words that were being spoken.

"They're going to the prison," Rick said quickly. He ran his fingers through his hair and took in a deep breath –he was conflicted. They stay they risk the others being caught at the prison by this man and his army of people or they could leave and risk losing Maggie and Glenn. They all needed to stick together –there was no way around it.

Daryl knew what this all meant –people were going to die. People he cared about.

"Whatda' wanta' do?" Daryl said holding his crossbow firmly in his hands. His first instinct was to get his ass back to the prison –no way in fuck was he going to let anything happen to the people that were there.

Especially Carol.

He had only just got her back and there was no fucking way he was going to lose her again; or anyone in the group for that matter if they could help it.

"There's only one thing we can do," Rick said.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"We didn't lock the gates back up yesterday!" Carl said suddenly as he stared out into the other end of the locked cellblock.

"What?" Carol said confused furrowing her brows together.

"When we found you…" Carl said panicked. "The gates that blocked the hallway down to this cellblock, we didn't lock them back up!" he said fumbling in his pocket to get his keys.

Carol reached out to stop him, "what are you doing? You can't go back out there, alone!" Carol said concerned.

"I'll only be a minute, we can't risk letting any walkers down here," he said rushed heading for the main gate.

"Wouldn't they have found us by now?" Beth asked quickly rocking the baby in her arms.

"Carl!" Hershel said trying his best to stand. "I think it's best if you just stay here," he said trying to let his best authority voice sound.

Carl ignored him and unlocked the gate before feeling someone push it closed again. He looked up to see a worried Carol.

"You're not going in there by yourself," she said conflicted. She bit her bottom lip shuffling her feet looking to Beth and the baby then to Hershel then back to Carl. With a deep sigh she rushed back to her cell and got one of the guns they kept inside the cellblocks for safe keeping. Making sure her knife was secure at her side she walked out of the cell towards Carl.

"I can go alone!" Carl said to her. He was more concerned about her wellbeing. He told his father he would protect this group and he already screwed up by forgetting to lock the gates, he wasn't about to make any more mistakes. Besides he was sure Daryl would have his neck if anything happened to her.

Carol sighed and shook her head, "I can't let you do that," she said.

"You're hurt Carol," Beth said with a frown.

Carol looked at her patched up shoulder and sighed before looking to Beth and the baby again with a smile. She looked to Hershel then and saw him nod to her. Hershel had become like the sergeant grandfather to everyone the one to reason with people but he didn't reason with her this time. Maybe he knew she would be ok?

"At least wait until Axel comes back?" Beth said suddenly.

Axel was back in the generator room trying to get at least some of the things working again. They had cleared out their end of the prison and slowly making it to the other side –things would run smoother with lights and alarms that didn't go off.

"No," Carol said softly looking to Carl. "He's right… we can't leave those gates open and let walkers wonder down here." She swallowed hard thinking about going back down that hallway again. One thing she did know was she couldn't let Carl go alone –although he did things on his own all the time now and could defend himself, she wasn't about to let Rick down and let something happen to his son, too.

D/C/D/C/D/C

Rick decided it was best if Daryl and Oscar made their way back to the prison. They would take the car to make it back quicker while he and Michonne stayed back to help the others. Splitting the group up like they had wasn't the ideal thing to do but he knew they had no choice. He wasn't sure if the governors men were really going to the prison or not but he wasn't going to risk it. After he and Michonne found their way in it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be – they had the town locked tight and it was apparent to him Michonne was making sure she wasn't seen by the people of the town.

"Where would they keep them?" Rick asked softly as they hid behind a large school like building.

"I don't know," she said looking around the lit up town. It was dark by this point and their time was slipping, she knew the town curfew was nearing and that would only make things harder for them to find the others.

"We have to do this fast…" Rick said almost panicked.

D/C/D/C/D/C

Lucky for them, Carl reloaded his silencer before he and Carol took off down the halls to lock the gates up. That end of the prison was infested with walkers by this point and the gunshots from Carol's gun only riled up more geeks. She fired three of her eleven rounds before using her knife Daryl returned to her. She wasn't that good at killing the walkers yet with it –she could get close enough to them but she stalled almost every time being that close to them –hence Daryl finding her knife in the walkers cheek. For the most part she was doing well and only using her gun when she needed to.

"Carol lets go!" Carl yelled out firing off another round to the walker that was closest to her.

Carol ducked to miss the walker that was about to fall on her. She and Carl ran up the hall in the opposite direction they originally came from. It was a second later they heard voices and a gunshot being fired from behind them.

"_Tyreese!"_

They both stopped in their tracks to look behind them to see four people running right towards them yelling for help.

Carl looked up at Carol seeing the concern in her eyes as she raised her gun to fire off another round at one of the walkers that turned their attention to the new meat that was headed their way.

"Come on!" Carl said tugging on her arm. "We have to go!" he said once more.

"We can't just leave them," Carol said conflicted.

"There's too many walkers… we have to leave them!" Carl said pulling on her arm to run with him back towards their cellblock.

Carol flinched feeling a pain rip through her shoulder as Carl pulled on her arm for her to run with him. They had no idea who these people were or how they got into the prison –there were two men and two women and none of them looked like inmates.

D/C/D/C/D/C

After Daryl and Oscar returned to the prison they realized they were still in the clear from Merle and the Governors men. But explaining to Hershel and Beth what was going on with the others was just as hard as the first time they heard about Glenn and Maggie being taken. Looking around realizing the group was with two less people, Daryl started to panic shouldering his crossbow rushing towards the cellblock Carol and he shared the night before.

"Where's Carol? Carl?" he said quickly.

When no one answered quick enough for him he asked again, but this time the anger and worry in his voice sounded harsher than before.

"Where are they?"

* * *

**So what do you all think? Was this chapter good or no good? I wanted to post this sooner but didn't get a chance to this week. I've been having a rough time lately with work and doing radiation. It's been a bad week needless to say.**

**But I hope this new chapter fills your Walking Dead/Caryl needs =)**

**Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed my story so far, it means so much to me that you all take your time out to read and review. Positive reviews always make me happy, so thank you again.**

**Now SPOILERS for tonight's mid-season final –I wanted to add them all in this chapter but couldn't. I had to cut this chapter in half, so don't read the rest of this if you don't want to know!**

**Rick hallucinates tonight –we get to see Shane with his big gun again! We get introduced to Tyreese and his group. The other side of the prison was burnt down and that's how all the other walkers keep getting inside and Tyreese's group… and so much more! But I'll be adding more spoilers to future chapters –they won't be spoilers anymore after tonight's episode. But you know what I mean =)**

**Anyways, please review if you'd like. They make this girl happy! Thank you all again for reading!**


	5. Who are you? CH5

**Wowy it's been forever it seems!**

**I'm very sorry for taking so long to update this. Firstly I update this story on 12/2/2012 and on 12/3/2012 I was in a horrible car accident. That is the main reason I have been absent from FF. It was a brutal accident and I'm SO thankful to be alive! Second I wasn't sure if I was going to finish this story or not –I don't feel like it's going well for some reason? But I wrote this chapter with hopes that maybe I can finish it up and take it somewhere.**

**That is considering people still want to read more on this story? With my absents I don't know…. But here is chapter 5. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter: 5

Who are you?

Carol ran as fast as she could firing off a few rounds at random walkers that were heading towards them as they took every turn they could into random hallways. They had lost the sounds of the others by this point and Carol panicked slightly. What if they were responsible for those people's deaths? They could have stayed and helped them. Carol shook her head at those thoughts; no they wouldn't have been able to help them. Carl was right there were way too many walkers caving in on them; they would die in the process of trying to save people they didn't even know.

"Do you know where we are?" Carol whispered to him seeing him flashing the flashlight just ahead of them. She knew Carl explored the prison a little by himself so she figured he knew where they were or at least had an idea. It was strange that she felt so safe with a thirteen year old boy –but then again he wasn't just an average thirteen year old. The kid could shoot and take care of himself as well as the others.

He had proved that long ago and she was proud of him for that.

"Down this way," Carl said quickly motioning for her to follow him up the opposite side of the hall. If he remembered correctly they were in the same hall as the infirmary and that was just a few halls down from their cellblock.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl said quickly seeing two men and two women. One of the women had been clearly bit and there was no way in hell Daryl was going to let them past the lobby of the cellblock. Without lowering his crossbow he spoke out again, "where are they?" he said with an angry tone.

"You mean the two who left us back there to die?" the man that was holding onto a sickly looking woman said.

"They didn't leave us to die, there were brain suckers everywhere down there," the biggest guy of the two said. "I'm Tyreese and this is my -," he started to say before the man with the crossbow cut him off.

"Did ya' see which way they went?" Daryl hissed out. When no one answered him quick enough to lowered his crossbow and turned quickly towards Oscar, "you know the tunnels better than anyone -," Daryl said hearing Oscar speak.

"Lets go."

Without another word Daryl and Oscar headed out the opposite side of the gated cellblock with their weapons in hand. He and Oscar came back to warn the others of what was going on and now not only did they have Woodbury on their hands but now they had two more missing people from the group.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"Run!" Carl yelled out firing another round off behind Carol as they continued to run down the hall. The infirmary hallway was just ahead of them and even though they were close to their cellblock that still didn't mean that the walkers were going to surround them.

They were doing their best to dodge the geeks as much as they could. The sounds of gun fire only brought more stray walkers about. They had encountered more than a few dozen of them at this point and it was starting to worry Carol. They had done their best to clear some of the prison out for the most part but even then so the walkers seemed to accumulate more and more now. As Carl slammed another gate behind them to cut them off from the geeks on the other end, Carol continued to run by his side up the hallway.

"You're bleeding!" Carl said as they rounded a corner carefully.

Carol swallowed hard and looked down at her arm seeing that her stitch job had been busted open. Lucky for her she caught it now before it had spread open all the way. As the blood trickled down her arm and soaked Daryl's flannel she still had on, she tucked her gun in the waistband of her pants before ripping the sleeve off of the other arm of the flannel. She balled it up and held it up to her shoulder –the smell of blood would put them in greater danger right now.

Noticing Carol wasn't next to him at that moment, Carl turned around to see her stopped in her tracks to try and tend to her wound.

"Come on," Carl whispered to her carefully flashing his flashlight at her seeing her look up at him to walk towards him. Just as she moved from her spot he saw a walker trudging up behind her. "Carol!" He shouted and not a second later he heard the whistling sound of an arrow in the air.

Carl and Carol both looked ahead of them in the dark to see Daryl and Oscar hot on their trail; with a sigh of relief Carol rushed with Carl towards them.

The moment Daryl laid eyes on Carol he started to panic seeing his flannel all bloodied up on one side and her trying to stop the bleeding with the shirt sleeve balled up in her hand.

"We're you bit?" he asked her a little too harshly stopping her stride just as they got towards their cellblock.

"No," she said quickly shaking her head with a hiss in pain.

"She busted some of her stitches," Carl said opening the gate door ushering them in quickly.

Daryl gripped her wrist of her good arm and drug her quickly with him into their cellblock hearing the gate click and lock behind them.

"Oh Carol!" Beth said quickly holding the baby close to her chest.

"I'm fine," she said quickly. "Just my stitches," she replied.

"Let me take a look," Hershel said quickly trying to stand now to tend to Carol's open wound.

"You're going to have to put her down," Tyreese said from across the way.

Tearing his eyes from Carol, Daryl turned his head to see who was talking. At first he thought Tyreese was talking to them, then he noticed his attention was focused on his group. Taking a quick glance back to Carol seeing her looking right at him, his lips twitched slightly before he nodded to her and made his way over to the other side of the gate.

"Now someone gonna' tell me how the fuck ya' got in 'er?" Daryl said quickly with Oscar and Carl just behind him.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"Are you alright?" Rick whispered as he untied Glenn and Maggie from the ropes that were around their wrists.

"I'll be better once we're out of … where are we?" Glenn said almost breathlessly feeling Maggie and Rick lift him up from his arms.

"Don't worry about that now, we have to go," Michonne said quickly looking out the window to see the town going about their business.

"Who are you?" Maggie asked with a grunt feeling Rick lean Glenn on her completely as he looked out the other side of the window.

"Michonne," the black haired warrior said quickly. "I saw you two outside the corner store, saw what that bastard Merle did to ya'll," Michonne said with a snarl in her voice.

"We'll catch up later, right now we need to get out of here and get to the prison." Rick interrupted.

"I'm sorry…" Glenn started to say before coughing violently.

"We had to tell them," Maggie finished for him.

"You did what you had to do," Rick said nodding to her. "The important thing here is we got you two out safe," Rick said with a wince looking at Glenn, "and now we all have to make it back in one piece." He finished while checking his gun to see how many more rounds were left in it.

"We stay in here any longer we risk them finding us, they do sweeps of all the buildings during curfew." Michonne said to Rick.

Rick sighed and looked back at Glenn and Maggie trying to decide the best way to get out of the town. They were without a car so getting back to the prison would be a long, painful journey but as long as they were out they could survive in one way or another. Truth was he was worried more about the others right now –his son and baby were at the prison and were at risk of being found. He knew Daryl and Oscar would have things under control –if they made it back that was. Rick growled inward at those thoughts. He knew they made it back in one piece –but his mind wouldn't be at rest until he was back there to know for sure.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"Did you see Merle?" Carol asked Daryl softly as she stood next to him on top of his perch. Oscar and Carl took watch in the tower tonight and in the morning Carol would be leaving with Daryl to try and find the others.

Daryl just didn't know it yet.

Leaning his arms against the perch railing he nodded and hung his head low for a moment. He chuckled and looked up into the darkness before speaking, "it's funny ya' know," he said swallowing hard. "This whole time… I thought he was out ther' strugglin' to survive alone," he said shaking his head. "Som' bitch is a part of -," Daryl growled at his words before cutting himself off. He knew talking about Merle would only piss him off and right now scaring Carol was the last thing he wanted to do. All he knew was that his brother was on his way and when they came face to face, Daryl wasn't sure how he was going to react.

Especially knowing that his brother was a part of a town that killed innocent people.

Carol sighed softly and brushed her fingers along his forearm seeing the goosebumps rise along his tan flesh. Although she could tell in his tone he was pulling away a little, he was still opening up to her and that was something he had become good at doing in the last few months. It made her feel important that he felt comfortable enough to talk to her like he did sometimes.

Feeling her fingers brush his arm, Daryl cleared his throat and moved his arm away from the bar and leaned up a little to look at her. Her touch was so inviting –it reminded him of the other night when he held her. How close she was; how much it hurt to not touch her now. Carol was his sense of comfort –he could have the worst day and she could be around and he could either take out his frustrations on her or let her help him. He didn't like to be coddled but for some reason when she did it –he didn't mind it one bit. He always felt bad when he did take out his frustrations on her, although it had been some months now since he had –she still just stood there and took it until he was finished.

To say she was fucking incredible was an understatement.

"How's yer' arm feeling?" he said nodding to her shoulder.

She shrugged a little, getting the hint he wanted to change the subject.

"More numb now than anything," she said with pain in her voice looking down at the ripped shirt she had on. She sighed and looked out at the quite cellblock, "should be interesting when I finally go to bed," she mumbled.

"Why's that?" he asked softly. He was avoiding talking about Merle, besides that he was actually more concerned for her. He knew they didn't have a whole lot of supplies and if it went untreated she could end up like all the others they had lost along the way.

"Just uncomfortable is all," she said finally with a weak smile looking at him finally. He looked so worn out and so badly did she want to reach out to him and let him know that everything would be ok. She stood there for a moment longer looking at his handsome face seeing the worry lines on his forehead increase before she leaned back a little and looked over to her cell. "I should let you sleep," she said softly. "You gotta be up in a few hours," she whispered once more.

Not hearing him say anything for a few minutes she took that as her cue to leave him be.

Making a small move to leave she felt his hand snatch her wrist quickly –softly –much like he had earlier. Carol swallowed hard and let him pull at her arm as she turned to look at him, he looked conflicted as his mouth opened to speak but no words came out.

Daryl's eyebrows furrowed together as he looked her over –he really should let her go back to her cell but something inside of him wouldn't let her.

"Don't do it again," he said suddenly gripping her wrist a little harder now. His words were soft and so was his grip, causing him to step closer to her. Seeing the confusion in her eyes he spoke out again, "disappear," he confirmed.

Carol swallowed hard and nodded to him.

"I mean it," he said slowly letting her wrist go.

Hearing him say that she nodded once more with a small twitching smile, "sounds like someone cares more then he'd like to admit," she teased hearing him growl and roll his eyes.

Leave it to Carol to tease him when he's having a moment. In a sense he appreciated that because he wasn't sure if she noticed how nervous he got when they got that close or when he started to admit things he didn't want to it was like she had caught on to how uncomfortable it made him and in her own way she had to tease him to let him know it was ok.

"It's ok, Daryl I won't tell no one," she added with a soft giggle and wink at him.

Rolling his eyes once more he took in a deep breath and looked over the perch. He could see movement on the other side of the gate. The group they encountered earlier was locked up on the other side. Daryl wasn't sure what to do with them yet and he sure as fuck didn't trust them so locking them up until the others returned was the best thing to do for now. "Ya' should sleep," he said quietly.

"So should you," she added seriously now.

"You slept fine a few nights ago," Daryl observed out loud thinking about her previous statement about sleeping uncomfortably now.

"What?" she said with a chuckle.

"Ya' said sleeping was uncomfortable for you, but you slept fine a few nights ago," he said quickly feeling his cheeks grow hot. He had no idea why he even opened his mouth –a few nights ago she was sleeping in his arms and other then his neck hurting from the weird position he had fallen asleep in, it was the best night's sleep he had, had in a while.

"Yeah well it's not like I can be in the comfort of your arms every night, Daryl," she said feeling her own cheeks grow hot.

He growled at her words and turned his head to look away from her. "Ya' sayin' it's my fault yer' ass can't sleep at night?" he said with a harsh laugh in his voice.

Carol could see him trying his best to sound mad –but it didn't work on her anymore. She could even see the smirk that crept on the side of his mouth.

"I never said that," she said lamely.

He chuckled shaking his head before looking over at her. She had a sweet, yet curious look on her face and the way the moon light played along her features at that moment he wanted nothing more than to prove to her that he could be more than just a cuddle buddy.

But he restrained for the sake of his own sanity.

Now was not the time to give into this woman and tell her how he felt. First being he wasn't quite sure how to go about it and second being he wasn't sure if he was ready for her to know his feelings or not.

Daryl backed away from the railing stretching his arms out ahead of him to crack his back a little before he made his way over to his makeshift bed. He could see Carol out of the corner of his eye watching him as he pulled his blankets back and toed off his shoes.

"Goodnight, Daryl," Carol said with a smile on her lips leaning up off the bars of the steps before making a move to leave.

"Where ya' goin'?" he asked her quickly snapping his fingers. When he got her attention he lifted his head to see her stepping closer towards him. "We both need ta' sleep, now come on."

Carol smiled widely and stepped closer to his mattresses' looking down as he kneeled down looking up at her. She opened her mouth to tease him but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Never had she imagined Daryl inviting her to sleep with him –even if they were just sleeping. Granted she never imagined falling asleep in his arms either and she had a few nights ago –but this was new and exciting to her. Without a word she removed her shoes and slid down into his bed next to him. Her bad shoulder brushing one of his at that moment and she moved slightly with a hiss of pain.

Daryl looked at her in the darkness and could just make out the lines of her pale face. If it was daylight he may have not been as bold, but seeing it was so dark and she couldn't see his face he made a move then. "Come 'er," he whispered softly –sweetly before reaching over to grab her bad arm carefully and pull her against his chest. He stiffened slightly at the feel of her nuzzling into his side like a perfectly fit puzzle piece. He absently rubbed his fingers up and down her arm while her bad shoulder rested on top of his chest and her face nuzzled the crook of his neck. He swallowed hard at his sudden boldness to have her so close but he figured after the other night this was ok with her.

"It's nice to know -," she started to tease him a little before hearing him cut her off.

"Shut it, woman… go ta' sleep," Daryl said with a soft chuckle.

Carol smirked against his neck at his words and felt the slight rumble of his chest as he spoke.

If only every night could be this good.

* * *

**Should I continue on or no? I'm really not sure why I'm not feeling this story anymore –I was… still am –excited to write it but I feel it's not going in the right direction? Was it IC?**

**Call me crazy!**

**Anyhow I hope you all liked it enough to hit that little review button at the bottom to let me know what you think!**

**I have this Caryl AU story I want to do, I'm usually not for AU stories but I've sort of started on chapter 1 of it already. Would you all want to see an AU Caryl Fanfic from me? Possibly my Season 2 Cary Fanfic I mentioned in my other Caryl stories?**

**Let me know and I'll post when I get some feedback =)**

**Thank you again for being so patient with me… with the car accident and being sick it's been a rough one. Fingers crossed for me to be cancer free this year!**


	6. No regrets CH6

**Thank you all so much for the awesome reviews on my last chapter. I won't lie I still feel as though I'm not doing well on this story, but I know in my heart I can't just drop it. I don't want to be one of those writers, you know?**

**But at the same time I don't want to give you all something crappy. It's important to me to stay in character and to keep the story cannon as much as I can. I hope I'm still doing that for you all.**

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Chapter: 6

No regrets;

"Ya' aint comin' with me!" Daryl said loudly as he packed the truck up with a few things. He would only be gone a few hours to look for the others but knew anything could go wrong in that short period of time.

"Why not? You might need me out there," Carol pleaded with him with her arms crossed over her chest.

Daryl chuckled looking over his shoulder at her. How the hell they got from where they were this morning to this was a mystery to him. They both woke up around the same time in the same position they fell asleep in, neither said a word to one another but by the slow movements to get up for the day and the sweet smiles and glances at one another he knew everything would be ok between them. She wouldn't laugh at him for trying to be "romantic" as she would put it even though he wasn't trying to be. He was just trying to comfort her and in some way trying to get the same comfort back from her.

Even though Carol always offered up that comfort to him even when he didn't need it –he wanted to return the favor.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't go with you?" she said quickly seeing him turn around to look at her.

"Yer' hurt an' you'll only slow me down, that's why!"

She chuckled not even phased by his words or the tone of his voice.

"Bullshit!" Carol said suddenly. She surprised herself with her words –she never cussed. She could tell by the look on his face he was surprised too.

"Cuse' me?" he said with a hidden smirk.

"You…" she swallowed hard, "you heard me … bullshit!"

"What's bullshit?"

"You don't want me coming along because you're afraid something's going to happen to me. I can handle myself Daryl… you of all people should know that," she said pleadingly.

"Coulda' fooled me!" he said throwing his hands up in the air. Those words stung even on his tongue as he looked at her. He immediately felt bad for saying them –he knew she could handle herself but what happened to her when she was lost all those days wasn't her fault. She had no choice but to hide, she had fought hard to stay alive and for that he was grateful she had become such a strong woman. "Side's who said I was worried about ya'?" he said with a smile trying to retract what he just said before.

Carol giggled slightly biting the side of her lip looking at him.

"Come on, all those hours of showing me how to handle a gun and a knife are being wasted, I didn't learn from the best just to sit in the prison all day and –" she started.

"Enough…" he said slamming the truck door behind him. "Butterin' me up is the last thing ya' want ta' do," he said walking past her back into the prison.

Carol followed behind him before she got to his side, "does that mean I can go?"

D/C/D/C/D/C

"We'll walk the rest of the way," Daryl said quickly pulling the truck to a stop behind a gaggle of trees. He looked over at Carol, she looked nervous –but something inside of her eyes when she turned her head to look at him, told him she could handle herself out there if something bad went down.

He never doubted it anyways.

She had become one hell of a strong woman over the course of the year and he couldn't have been more proud of her.

Without a word Daryl opened the door and slid out of the truck looking around them before motioning for her to follow him and slide out the same side. He closed the door carefully behind them and they walked down a trail that was about a mile closer than the original trail they had taken before to find Woodbury. He knew Rick wouldn't risk taking the same route they took before especially with all the walkers that were around them.

They went a few feet into the woods before Daryl stopped dead in his tracks feeling Carol run right into him from behind. He grunted and looked at her over his shoulder before seeing her cheek turn red.

"What is it?" she said softly gripping her gun tighter than before to prepare herself for the worst.

He held his hand up to tell her to stop talking.

It was then another sound was heard –people talking. It was more than one person –a few people at that and if it was any of the Governors men, he and Carol were fucked. Without a sound he gripped her wrist carefully before pulling her arm gently to have her follow him. They ducked low and when they got close behind a rock formation the muffled voices got a little louder. Daryl didn't realize he was still holding onto Carol until he felt the sudden tremor against his own hand. He looked over at her to see her face paler then it usually was. This is what he feared the most –that she'd freeze up on him out here and they both get killed.

To try and calm her as he looked around the area he gently rubbed his thumb along her pulse point feeling her trembling subside slightly. He could feel her body heat closer than before as if she stepped closer next to him. He didn't mind it really because honestly it was easier to keep an eye on her if she was this close to him.

"We gotta let 'em pass," he whispered softly hunching down motioning for her to do the same as he let go of her wrist. Daryl peaked over the side of the rock formation to see people jogging through the trees. He couldn't make out faces at that moment but once the voices got closer he knew who it was.

"That sounds like Rick," Carol said softly as she peaked around the other side of the formation feeling Daryl pull her back slightly to stand with him.

Making sure he heard the same voice he looked a little closer to see that it was in fact the group he and Oscar had left behind. Without moving he looked at Carol and put his finger up to his lips to tell her to shush before he let out a soft whistle. It was risk doing that because what if they were running from the Governors' men at that moment and they heard him whistle? They would all be fucked.

"Hold up!" Rick said quickly. "Daryl?" Rick said looking around the area before seeing Daryl and Carol come from behind a nearby rock formation.

"E'vrone –damn Short Round –who'd ya' piss off?" Daryl teased walking forward shouldering his crossbow as he helped Maggie hold up the other side of Glenn. He heard Glenn chuckle and wince as he held him up on the opposite side of Maggie.

"Carol?" Maggie said breathlessly reaching out to hug the woman. Carol smiled tucking her gun behind her as she embraced the young woman. "We thought you were -," Maggie said breaking her words off to pull back a little feeling Carol flinch. It was then Maggie noticed she was hurt, "what happened to you?" Maggie asked quickly –concerned.

"We aint got time fer' chit chat," Daryl interrupted the reunion nodding up ahead of them. "We need ta' get back to the prison, we have visitors," Daryl said looking up at Rick.

"The Gov's men?" Michonne asked concerned.

"I don't think so," Carol spoke out. "C –Carl and I ran into a small herd in one of the tunnels on our way back to the cellblock. They got in from the other side of the prison, one of them was bit," she said swallowing hard seeing Rick eye her carefully wondering what she and Carl were doing out of the cellblock to begin with.

"We got 'em locked up. Don't worry," Daryl confirmed.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"Thank God you're both ok," Hershel said as he patched up Glenn. The man had been beaten to a bloody pulp.

"It was Merle you know," Glenn said looking up through slit eyes to Daryl.

"What?" Daryl said quickly with a squint of his eyes.

"Merle beat me… threw a walker at me," he said slightly coughing.

Daryl flinched at his words and shook his head, "I…" he paused. What was he to say to his friend at that moment? He wasn't about to apologize for Merle's actions knowing that his brother could be a real dick. He glanced up at Carol who was packing away some medical supplies from working on Maggie's minor wounds.

Carol listened carefully to what was being said right now, about how Merle was the one who did this to them. She was afraid to look at Daryl at that moment –she knew he'd be raging. Swallowing hard she glanced from the corner of her eye feeling eyes on her –she could always tell when he was looking at her. The hair on the back of her neck stood up and she got tingly all over. She finally looked at him seeing the conflict in his gaze, she tried to smile at him but he turned away just as quickly as she looked at him.

"I'll take watch tonight," Daryl announced quickly shouldering his crossbow.

"No one takes watch alone," Rick said as Daryl walked past him.

"I do." Was all the Dixon said before walking out to the watch tower.

D/C/D/C/D/C

It had been an hour since Daryl had been in the watch tower alone; Carol knew that she needed to give him some time to cool off. In the back of her head she knew Daryl knew that Merle had a bigger part of all this then just kidnapping them and taking them to Woodbury. She had her suspicions too but didn't want to say anything to him until they got the facts and now that they had she hoped it wouldn't bring out the raging Daryl that they all first met over a year ago.

"Go away," Daryl said hearing the door open. He didn't look to see who it was until he heard someone sigh. He knew it was Carol and although he wanted to be alone, he didn't mind her company –she would be his voice of reason.

Carol didn't listen to him; instead she just walked up and stood beside him looking out at the prison yard below them. The sun was setting already and the walkers were still piled up along the fence sniffing for any way to get in. They didn't speak for a long time, really neither of them moved and Carol was ok with that. As long as he wasn't screaming and yelling at her to leave the watch tower, they were doing good.

"I knew when I seen Merle back at that town… he hadn't changed," Daryl said softly with a deep sigh tightening his grip on his crossbow. "I gave up thinkin' he was still alive long ago… but…" he trailed off with grunt at his own frustration. He shouldn't have opened his mouth; he needed to keep this all to himself knowing that talking about it would only make him even madder.

"I get it," she said softly seeing him looking at her from the corner of his eye. "But seeing him out there you had hope that he had changed," she said softly seeing him look at her finally as he gave her a quick nod. "For your sake, when I heard Merle was still alive –I hoped he had changed too."

Daryl furrowed his brows squinting slightly, "why?"

"Because you care about him… he's your brother and I know seeing him again had to hurt," she said sympathetically. "I know somewhere deep down you wanted to go to him –but you kept your loyalty to this group… to this family and I know that had to be hard for you." She paused for a moment brushing her fingers along his chiseled upper arm.

Daryl glanced at her hand on his arm before trailing his eyes to match hers seeing the sincerity in her stair. Voice of reason –that was his Carol.

"Yeah…" was all he said feeling the ghost of her fingers lingering on his arm as she dropped her hand.

It was silent again for a while. She looked out ahead of them seeing the darkness surrounding them; before it got too late she wanted to make her way back into the prison. She knew he wanted to be alone anyway. Without a word and a simple brush of her hand on his shoulder she started to make her way past him with a small smile.

"Where ya' goin'?" he asked her without looking back to her.

She looked over her shoulder at him and stayed quite for a moment before getting his attention. When he looked at her she turned to face him, "I know you wanted to be alone," she said simply.

"I can be alone with ya' 'er," he said quickly turning back around to face the outside again.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"How's yer' shoulder feelin'?" Daryl whispered to her as they made their way back into the prison. Rick and Tyreese relieved the two of them not minutes ago.

Rick informed them both that the man and the two remaining members of his group were willing to pull their weight to help out around the place. Although Daryl wasn't sure how he felt about it, he didn't say anything to Rick just yet. Nine times out of ten he was a good judge of character so he would wait until later to see what the man had to say.

Carol rolled her shoulder slowly with a slight flinch. She was healing better now that she hadn't done much to irritate the wound but it still hurt like a son of a bitch. "Better than before, still hurts but I've had worse," she said casually.

Daryl grunted as they took the stairs up to his perch. He knew what she meant by that –her dead husband –the fucker that used to use her as a punching bag.

"Haven't we all?" he said hearing her chuckle and smile at him. He watched her stiffen a yawn out of the corner of his eye as they stopped at the top of the steps. Last night he slept like a baby with her in his arms –he didn't have to worry if she was safe or not in that cell all alone. He didn't say anything at first as he made his way towards his bed removing his crossbow from his shoulder before seeing her fidget with her hands in front of her. Daryl couldn't lie to himself –he was just as nervous as she looked right now. He was never good with emotions or saying something to a woman he cared about –but with Carol he felt like he could just let loose with her. Of course it wasn't always like that between them but they had grown to have a friendship no one would ever understand.

Hell he didn't understand it sometimes but he liked it way.

"Ya' goin' back to yer' cage?"

She chuckled crossing her arms over her chest as she absently rubbed her arms up and down stepping closer to him. "I guess so. We don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, might as well get some sleep," she said softly with a shrug.

Daryl furrowed his brows looking at her. Something in her voice –her words struck a chord in him. He'd never thought about the future, all he ever worried about was what was going on in the moment. They didn't have a chance to think about tomorrow or next week -they've lost so many people along the way and that just proved to him that nothing is guaranteed. Of course he knew that a long time ago but it wasn't until just now that he realized this could be their last night together –their last moments.

He didn't want her to go back to her cell for the night knowing that tomorrow when they woke up he may never get a chance to hold her again. They weren't sure when his brother and his group of men were coming but he had a feeling they weren't far away. He wasn't even sure what was going to happen but they all knew they had to prepare for the worst –there was no good thinking anymore.

"Y –you don't have ta' y- you can stay… er' ya' know," he said swallowing hard.

Carol smiled softly at him and stepped closer to him seeing the scared look on his face as he spoke to her. She watched as he pulled his blankets back, his eyes never leaving hers as they both lowered to their knees at the same time. They sat there looking at one another for a few moments before the sound of her voice was heard.

"Daryl," she whispered looking at him as the moonlight played on his brutally handsome face. "I regret a lot of things in my life," she said softly.

"We all do." He agreed.

She smiled and started to lower herself on the bed just as he started to as well, "I don't want to add another thing onto that list," she said seriously. She looked at him seeing him leaning towards her on one hand to pull the blankets back. Before she could catch herself she attacked him –her hands on either sides of his face as her lips crashed to his. She made a noise of satisfaction when her body crashed against his, not realizing how hard she tackled him. Daryl was flat on his back now as she leaned into his side –her lips never leaving his.

Daryl didn't know what was happening but one minute he was ready for bed, scared shitless to let himself get close to her again and then the next he had been tackled by a boney, determined woman. He didn't know how to react at first and just as she started to pull away he put his hand on the back of her head pulling her back against him. His mouth assaulted hers passionately as he held her head in place rolling her over so she was on her back now. He was sort of glad that she made a move first –he really was no good at words. So talking would have probably been worse than kissing skills but she didn't seem to mind because she didn't pull away.

That wasn't until they heard Rick below shouting for them.

Daryl tore away from her quicker then he'd like to but hearing Rick shouting they had company was more important at that moment. Not giving it second thought he grabbed her hand lifted her up with him as he grabbed his crossbow ready to stalk down the steps with her right behind him. He glanced back at her seeing the glazed look in her eyes and her swollen red lips –he smiled for a moment seeing her do the same before he turned his attention back to Rick.

"There's a convoy, we can't see how many men there are," Rick started.

"Doesn't matter, we know who it is," Daryl said with a grunt.

"What should we do?" Carol asked seeing Glenn and Maggie as well as Carl emerge from their cells with weapons in hand.

"They have to go through all the walkers first; you don't think they'll attack in a blaze of glory do you?" Glenn said.

"Only one way to find out," Rick said cocking his gun back.

It was decided after much arguing with Daryl that Carol and Oscar all take back-up outside the prison. Carl, a hurt Glenn and Hershel would stay inside with Axel, Beth and Judith to make sure no one else got in while Rick, Daryl, Maggie and Michonne took the front line. Tyreese, his daughter Sasha and Ben would take the side gate by the watchtower. As they all hit the outside they made sure to stay out of sight as much as possible.

"We spilled blood for this place, we aint giving up that easy," Rick whispered to everyone.

Carol caught Daryl's eye just as she started to jog with Oscar to their post.

"No regrets," she whispered to him with a trying weak smile.

He shook his head quickly, "no regrets," he repeated to let her know he was on the same page with her.

With that they parted ways to fight for their lives.

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**Sorry for the cliffhanger!**

**Don't hate me for it but I promise to bring it together. I hope this chapter left you all wanting more? I would like to post chapter 7 in the next few days.**

**I'll be home tomorrow after treatment. I'll be terribly tired and sick but maybe I'll post chapter 7 then too. That is if you all want me to?**

**Thank you all again for the support, please let me know what you think about chapter 6 =) I'll be getting to my PM's I promise. If you haven't noticed I don't get to make it online much anymore =(**

**Again thank you all so much! The reviews mean SO much, love to you all!**


	7. Fight the living CH7

**Thank you all so much for the reviews! They mean so much to me! I'm terribly sorry I didn't get to update this sooner… treatment has been rough for me the last week. Got another round this week. =( been rough but I hope you all like this chapter nonetheless.**

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Chapter: 7

Fight the living;

"I'll be damned baby brother!" Merle shouted as he jumped down from the truck he was riding in. Two more pulled up on either side of his convoy as he walked up to him from the other side of the gate. His men were taking geeks heads off left and right at that moment. "Aint ya' gonna let me in?" he asked him swiftly.

Daryl shook his head and snorted. He argued with Rick about going out to the gate alone but Daryl could handle Merle alone the others weren't far behind him so Daryl knew his back up was close by.

"How'd ya' know I was here?" Daryl asked him coyly.

"Tha' don't matter… important thin' here is I'm back!"

Daryl chuckled glaring at his brother seeing the rest of his brothers group start to file in around him on the other side of the fence.

"It matters!" Daryl said gripping his crossbow tighter in his hand.

Merle looked at him carefully for a moment –he really wasn't sure how to answer that. He was expecting his brother to be there with open arms when he arrived but he was wrong. Maybe what the Asian kid said was right –Daryl was fighting on their side now.

"Ya' took two of my people," Daryl finally said seeing a look of shock on his brothers face.

"How -," Merle started to say confused. As far as they knew Glenn and his chick were locked up back in Woodbury.

"Don't worry 'bout it," Daryl said.

Merle eyed him up and down then chuckled loudly, "damn, Darlyna! Whend'ya' grow a set?"

"I aint got time fer' ya'… what the hell ya' doin' 'er Merle?" Daryl spoke loudly.

Merle grunted and got face to face with his brother through the fence, "now you listen ta' me boy! We're family damint –these people don't love you like I do. I didn't come all this way fer' nothing."

Daryl growled at his brothers words shoving his brother back from the fence just as a gunshot was heard. It got both Daryl and Merle's attention as they looked back to see one of the men Merle brought firing off his gun into the prison yard. The direction Daryl was looking was the same direction Carol and Oscar had gone –his heart was racing in his chest at that moment.

More gun fire was heard and before he knew it Michonne, Maggie and Rick were all out there firing off their guns at the men from the other side of the fence.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"Whose he talkin' to?" Oscar whispered to her as he looked out ahead of them.

"Merle."

Oscar shook his head –he'd heard enough about the other redneck from Daryl and everyone else in the group. He wasn't good people to deal with so Oscar knew this wasn't going to end well. As they watched in the dark –the lights of the trucks being the only real light they could see anything Oscar noticed something moving around in the tree line outside of the gates. Walkers didn't move as fast as these things were and most of the walkers were being cleared out by the men on the other side of the gate.

"What's that?" Oscar asked nudging her a little.

"Walkers?" she said softly too fixated on Daryl and Merle talking one hundred feet away.

"Get down!" Oscar yelled to her pushing her back behind him as he fired off a stray round out in front of them. When a bullet flew past them and hit the building behind them Oscar looked at her, "them aint no walkers!"

Carol watched in front of her as Rick and the others started to fire off a few rounds as well. This was one of those moments she knew could be her last. She and Daryl had a brief discussion about it and agreed….

No matter what happened –no regrets.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"This wasn't a part of the plan!" Philip growled out to Merle gripping his upper arm.

Merle snatched his arm back from the Governor and hissed, "nothin' ever goes as planned anyways!" he said quickly.

"You lied to me, damnit!" Philip said once more with anger in his voice.

Merle furrowed his brows following the man's eyes to the other side of the fence.

Michonne.

That bitch had to ruin everything for him!

"Tell me now why I shouldn't just leave you here to rot and die with the others!"

Merle chuckled checking his pistol that was in his hand, "cause there's no way ya' go back to Woodbury without me!" Merle challenged him. "Don't want yer' precious "people" ta' know the real you," he said with a growl in his voice. "I aint leavin' here without, Daryl," he said finally.

"Looks to me your brother has himself a new family. He doesn't look too happy to see you," The Governor said swiftly.

Merle glared at the man before him and turning his attention back to the battle that was in front of him. He was right –Daryl wasn't happy to see him. He thought for sure he knew his brother –this wasn't the Daryl he knew. The Daryl he knew followed him around and did what he told him to do. This Dixon that was before him was a man –one that stood his ground and apparently fought for what he thought was his.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"Round it up, boys!"

Carol heard someone shout in the background as she fired off another round of her gun. She and Oscar got separated about ten minutes ago. The south side gate had caved in and walkers poured into the prison yard as well as some of the men Merle had come with. She could see Tyreese and his two people coming towards her to help her out. She knew not to use her gun so much but right now –saving ammo and not making a whole lot of noise was the last thing on her list. Getting out alive was her main priority right now –but if something didn't happen soon she was going to be dead with the others.

"Sasha!" Tyreese yelled out watching his daughter being taken down by a walker.

Tyreese swung his axe hard slicing the walkers head in two as his daughter went down screaming in agony.

"Go… daddy just go!" Sasha screamed out to him trying to push him away from her.

Carol watched as Tyreese took a moment to mourn over his daughter –she knew the feeling only losing Sophia had been much worse for her. Her daughter had gone missing and was right under their noses the whole time they were on the farm. She thought she'd never get over it –apart of her still hadn't but that was where the rest of the group came in –they were her family and her strength.

Especially one foul mouth redneck in particular.

Thinking of Daryl, she snapped out of her thoughts to see the other man in Tyreese's group try to pick him up to keep going.

"We have to leave her!" Ben shouted pulling at the much larger man to follow him.

"Carol!" Maggie shouted in the distance.

Carol spun around to see a walker coming right for her as she ducked to miss its arms swinging out to snatch at her. Carol spun behind it pistol whipping the walker in the back of the head feeling it's blood squirt onto her face. After the walker fell to the ground she pulled up and started to run in the direction everyone else from her group was. She ran past Tyreese and Ben before hearing a commotion by the fence again. This time she saw Rick, Michonne, Merle and some other man all exchanging not so kind words.

Her eyes scanned the area for Daryl as the gun fire and screams started to die down. She could see walkers and some of the men that were brought with Merle's group lying dead on the ground as well.

"Carol come on! Back inside!" Maggie called out to her.

Carol felt frantic –where was Daryl?

"Where's Daryl? –What's going on?" Carol shouted back motioning to the fence as the yelling got louder.

Tyreese and Ben were close behind Carol as they rushed back inside the side door of the prison.

"Merle's not leaving without Daryl…" Maggie said with a frown.

Carol frowned at that moment –she knew the kind of hold Merle had on his younger brother and although she and Daryl talked about it she still had a feeling somewhere in the back of Daryl's mind he would leave the group to be with his brother. She didn't want to think that way but she knew somewhere deep down Daryl had that feeling too. After all Merle was his blood –he was different than the rest of them.

"Where is Daryl?" Carol asked once more frantically.

"I don't –oh God! Come on!" Maggie said pulling Carol along with her to the other side.

Carol squinted in the dark to see two figures rushing around the fence on the other side that had been busted down.

It was Daryl and Oscar.

Both men were grunting and cursing as they tried to zip tie the fence back together. There was a large part of the fence that had caved in and they all knew whatever they did to hold it up wouldn't last long with all the geeks that were around them now.

"Oscar!" Carol said quickly seeing his arm bleeding as he tried his best to keep up with the others to put the fence back up.

"We don't have time," Oscar said back. "Come on help before more get through," he said without looking at her.

"Daryl –Merle's not leaving here without you," Maggie said with a grunt pulling one side of the fence together as Daryl tried to tie it up as best as he could.

"Guess the geeks will get to em' I aint leavin' with em'," Daryl said calmly.

Carol's heart raced at the rednecks words. A shred of guilt came inside of her then for ever doubting him for one moment. She knew better than to think that Daryl would just up and leave them all –leave her. She knew too it was hard for Daryl to say that out loud –spite it all, Merle was still his kin and his only blood left. If Daryl thought Merle could change he would have said something by now –but he hadn't.

"What made them stop shooting?" Carol asked quickly.

"My guess's good as yers'," Daryl said glancing up at her bloody face. He did a double take and before he could utter another word she shook her head to let him know she wasn't bit or attacked by a walker.

After they got the fence secure enough they started to back away towards the prison again when Carol felt a hand on her shoulder. When she turned around she saw an injured Oscar stumbling before her.

"Do it," Oscar said to her pleadingly.

Carol frowned feeling tears well up in her eyes. She didn't know if she had it in her to kill another human being.

"I –I can't," she said shaking her head. Instead memories of T-Dog flashed through her mind at that moment. The man knew he was still alive when he risked his life to save her –eventually he would have been a walker but they still had some time. Oscar was in the same boat –they could take his arm off to save him.

Right?

She knew Rick cut Hershel's leg off to save his life –but then again that was a fast reaction. She wasn't sure how long Oscar had been bit for.

"I won't end up like one of them… do it!" he shouted with a wisp of tears shining in his eyes.

Carol gripped her knife with a shaky hand and looked behind her to see Maggie and Daryl watching her. "I -," she said looking back to Oscar seeing him stepping closer to her. She stumbled back slightly.

"Do it!" he shouted.

He was trying to scare her –and it was working.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "Just do it, damnit!" he said once more with a pleading tone.

She didn't know the man all too well to know if he was a sweet man before all this –but something inside of her was conflicted. She knew he proved his loyalty to the group just weeks back when they got to the prison and she knew this was something that had to be done.

"Go on now," Daryl said behind her.

Carol turned to look at the hunter then –his eyes were glassy as he nodded behind him.

"Go I said," he said to her quickly.

She looked at Oscar with a deep frown, "I'm sorry," she whispered taking one last glance at Daryl before running her way to back to the prison door Maggie was waiting at.

"I don't want to end up like the others, man…" Oscar said with a whimper in his voice.

Daryl sighed looking behind him to see Carol had made it to the fence with Maggie. He turned his attention back to Oscar and nodded.

"Ya' won't."

D/C/D/C/D/C

"How'd you get them to leave?" Glenn asked quickly as they all stood in the center of the cellblock.

"The man that was with Merle -," Rick started.

"The Governor." Michonne corrected.

Rick looked over at her and sighed, "called his men to back down." Rick said quickly.

"Merle offered a trade…"

"What do you mean?" Carol asked with a noticeable tremble as she stood next to Daryl.

"Me for Andrea," Daryl spoke up.

"Andrea?" Carol and Glenn said at the same time.

"I found her in the woods not long after your farm was overrun," Michonne said.

"But she…" Carol said shaking her head trying to comprehend what was going on.

Michonne explained to them all what she and Andrea went through during those months they were all apart. Carol was stunned that the woman made it out alive –she swore she saw Andrea go down when she saved her life.

Rick explained to them all that once Merle opened his mouth about Andrea the Governor's attitude changed about the situation and he ordered everyone to back down. It was apparent then that although Merle may have been the Governor's right hand man –he put himself in deep shit with his fearless leader. Rick as well as everyone else knew right then that, that wasn't the last they seen of that group.

D/C/D/C/D/C

"Yer' sure yer' alright?" Daryl asked Carol softly watching as she whipped her face down with a wet rag.

She nodded with a deep sigh, "I –I'm fine," she said softly wringing out the bloody towel. "Thank you… for what you did for me," she said quickly looking up at him.

He shook his head, "don't gotta' thank me, wasn't yer' job ta' put em' down."

"It wasn't yours either."

They silently agreed before Carol washed up completely the best she could with the water and rag she had. Without another word to one another they walked side by side to his perch. Glenn, Maggie and Carl were all on watch right now. They were on high alert now with what happened not hours ago.

"I think Rick wants to move on," Carol said softly standing in front of him.

"Why ya' say that?" Daryl asked not meeting her eyes just yet.

She leaned back against the railing before crossing her arms over her chest. "I can feel it is all… he gets this look in his eyes when something bad goes wrong… every time –we move on –we keep running," she sighed with her words looking down.

"We're never safe," he said quickly. "Fighin' and runnin' is all we can do now –it's the only way ta' survive."

Carol nodded rubbing her hands up and down her bare arms, "what about Merle?" she said swallowing thickly afraid to look him in the eye.

"I aint leavin' with em' if thas' whatcha worried about!" Daryl said.

Carol met his eyes then and shook her head.

"I'm not." She said simply with a tremble in her voice.

Daryl's eyes scanned every inch of her face before he lightly brushed his fingers along her arm letting her know it was ok to get closer. He felt her arms wrap around his neck burring her face in the crook of his shoulder and neck before he wrapped his arms around her thin waist pulling her close to him. His body relaxed this time. Usually he would be tense with her but this time he needed this physical contact with her.

Carol was his comfort in more ways than one.

He needed her now … he needed her always.

"Let's get some sleep," he whispered into her shoulder. When he pulled back slightly he had every intention on kissing her –that's what people did in the movies. Or when Glenn and Maggie had an argument or one of them was out on a dangerous run they always hugged each other and kissed –along with other things as well. But when his lips came in he hit her cheek instead.

He grunted in frustration and felt his face grow warm then. She didn't laugh at him she just simply smiled and placed her hand on his cheek reeling him in for a soft –tender kiss. Her lips were the antidote to any problem he thought he was having right now –this woman was something incredible.

Daryl didn't know what was going to happen with them –the group –him and Carol but one thing he did know was they had this moment and would make damn sure they had more like it.

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**Maybe not my best work, I'm very sorry about that. I hope I stayed IC enough for everyone who is reading this. I don't have it in my heart to have Daryl push her away. Not after seeing his brother like that and not to mention everything they had been through together. I love Merle's character so much and I know it seems like I make him out to be a dick in all my stories but I can't help myself. I love playing him bad and playing Daryl as the "sweet baby brother!"**

**More flashbacks are soon to come and so will the ending of this story. Sad to say but I hope it all wraps up well enough for you all. Also sweet sweet lovin' from our favorite couple is too come as well! Again thank you for the reviews and favorites so far. You all are amazing. Someone else also asked me if I was going to post my AU Caryl fanfiction –I'm thinking about it along with my Season 2 Caryl story. Would you all want to see it? Let me know and thank you all again!**

**Reviews would be wonderful! xoxox**


	8. What are we doing? CH8

**Just a note to say; YOU ARE ALL AMAZING! Thank you all so very much for the reviews so far! You don't know how good it feels to come on here after a long tired day of being sick from treatment to see all those awesome encouraging reiviews!**

**I hope this chapter satisfies? It is RATED M so please be aware of this. It's all Caryl baby…**

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Chapter: 8

What are we doing;

"Ya' know your friends are alive?"

"What?"

Merle chuckled looking out ahead of them –the night air was tight and so was the tension in the little town of Woodbury. He and the others had only returned the night before and still there was no official plan to go back to the prison. Merle knew the Governor and knew that he was cooking up something to take the others over. Although Merle had been there first hand and knew his brother wanted nothing to do with him –he would be damned if he let their fearless leader take out his brother.

If Daryl was going to die it was going to be in the hands of a Dixon.

"Ya' asked me where we was yesterday…" Merle said facing Andrea as she looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about Merle?" Andrea asked him quickly and quietly.

"Daryl, Rick, the Asian kid… yer' buddy Michonne… their all at the prison just twenty miles up from us," Merle said.

Andrea shook her head, "s –so why didn't they come back with you guys?" she asked furrowing her brows trying to comprehend what the man was telling her.

"With Michonne there… ya' really think their gonna come our way?" he asked seriously. He knew the woman had told them everything and not only that they had witnessed what was to come from the little town.

"I don't believe you," Andrea finally said crossing her arms. "Phillip would have told me if the others were around…" she said more to herself then to the one armed mad before her.

"Hate to break it to ya' blonde but the ol' Gov don't care 'bout ya'… he kept Glenn and his little woman a secret from you whiles' they were here," Merle said matter of fact.

Andrea couldn't believe what he was telling her right then. Phillip was lying to her about her friends. The only way she knew Merle wasn't lying to her was because she had never mentioned Maggie or anyone from Hershel's farm for that matter. She mentioned they stayed there for a while but she never said names or gave out any personal affairs.

"I offered to trade ya' fer' Daryl and well -," he started.

"You what!" Andrea said angrily.

"Don't get yer' panties in a bunch… aint gonna happen anyways."

D/C/D/C/D/C

"It's been a few days; do you think they'll come back?" Carol asked Daryl as they stood watch in the guard tower.

Daryl sighed and looked out into the prison yard, "I know they will…" he said softly craning his neck side to side. "Merle won't give up that easy, sides' I'm sure by now Andrea knows were all 'er," he said quickly.

"Has Rick said anything to you about us leaving?" she asked once more.

Daryl shook his head before it went silent between them again. It had only been a few days and still neither of them talked about that hot kiss they had a few nights back when both their lives almost ended. Sure they had a few pecks here and there but it never went further then that. Carol had acquired a spot in his makeshift bed now too. At night without question or thought she slept with him and Daryl was by no means protesting. He needed that human contact and not to mention he needed Carol.

He was done having that empty feeling inside –he knew every minute they had could be their last and he wasn't about to waist it when he could spend them all with her.

He'd never been in a serious relationship much less let anyone get this close to him before. Not just physically but emotionally and that said a lot about him as a man when he let her past those barriers he'd spent his whole life working to put up. He wasn't sure if it was because it was the end of the world or what but all he knew was he didn't want to let anyone else in so to speak. This was his family and although Merle was his blood –his brother hadn't changed for shit and Daryl wasn't that kind of person anymore.

Now that he thought about it… he was never like his brother.

All he knew was that he had these people… and this woman who wanted him around. They looked to him for leadership from time to time and he wasn't about to let them down. It was a damn shame that the world had to go to shit for him to realize that it wasn't all that bad to let people get close to you.

With all those thoughts he looked at Carol from the corner of his eye –she was looking through the lenses of the binoculars they kept up in the tower. She looked so tired and scared –hell they all did but he was proud of her for being strong and not giving up. He took a moment to watch her again as she lowered the lenses and looked over her shoulder at him. He saw the faint smile creep up on her lips before she turned her whole body towards him.

"What?" she said with a rising blush on her cheeks.

Daryl stuttered for a moment before looking away from her, "nothin'," he said quickly.

Carol grunted softly. She hated those moments when she knew there was something on his mind and he never said anything to her. She wished sometimes he would just tell her what he was thinking. But she couldn't complain too much, she had after all come over some serious obstacles with the man. He never wanted to let any of them in and there she was –his best friend that knew almost everything about him. Or at least everything he wanted her to know about him and yet sometimes he still acted shy with her. She would never understand it especially with everything they had been through in the last year and half.

They had all lost so much, some more than others and yet they still pushed on every day. They never knew what was to come in the future. Hell in the next few minutes she and Daryl could be shot down if the Governors men came back to attack them –these were their everyday risks and sometimes they were too much to handle.

"What ya' thinkin' 'bout?" Daryl asked her suddenly.

She snapped from her thoughts seeing him standing closer to her now –the look on his face was painfully serious at this point.

"You don't want to know, trust me…" she said softly with a small chuckle. She watched his face fall at that moment –almost sympathetic. He did that from time to time, it was a rare side of him he let her see but she appreciated it nonetheless.

"Tell me."

Carol swallowed hard at the sound of his voice –it was soft with passion hidden around the edges.

"We could all die tonight," she finally said with a small whisper. Her eyes traveled away from him at that moment before she looked out ahead of them to see the sun starting to set. Their shift would be over soon and tomorrow would be another day.

"We could die right now," he finished for her.

She looked at him again then and saw the brim of his eyes watering. She had never seen Daryl Dixon cry –not really cry anyways and she hoped she didn't get to see that now. That would probably only break her heart more and she didn't know if she could handle that. At that very moment her thoughts got the best of her and it was her now that felt a tear slip down her cheek. Before she could turn her head away to wipe it she felt his warm rough fingers touch her face.

She froze at that moment from the contact before closing her eyes tightly to move her face against his fingers.

Daryl watched her closely seeing so many emotions play on her face. He was sure they mirrored his own –he just hid them better. He felt her cheek cuddle into his hand as he placed his fingers on the side of her face letting his thumb travel her wet cheekbone. When she opened her eyes he mustered up a small smile for her feeling her cold hand go over top of his to keep it in place.

"When I was talking about not regretting anything…" she started seeing him watch her carefully. "You're what I don't want to regret Daryl." She said all in one breath feeling him drop his hand slightly from her face. She frowned then watching every emotion he possessed play on his face. She wondered then if he took what she was saying the wrong way –he was good for her. "I -." She started before feeling his lips crash against hers.

Daryl knew what she was saying then –he got it. He felt the same way; only thing was he was no good with words. Telling her he agreed with her would probably only ruin the moment so instead he decided to show her. He gripped the back of her head with one hand and smashed his lips to hers –not too hard but hard enough to let her know this was what he wanted. His tongue traced the outline of her thin lips as he pushed her back slightly up against the tower doors. He felt her fingers weave through his hair pulling it just has one of his hands traveled south to wrap around her thinning waist.

When their lips broke for air their foreheads pressed together.

"What are we doing?" Carol asked breathlessly with a small smile on her lips.

They had these moments where they would just suddenly break into a kissing fit –she wasn't complaining by any means –but she wanted to know what it all meant. It was obvious she had feelings for him but she wondered if he felt the same way for her as well.

"Not regretting." He answered softly brushing his lips against hers once more. He hoped that was the right answer –it sounded right to him.

"I -," she started before stopping herself. This was a moment she wanted to shout from every rooftop that she loved him –she wanted to tell him she loved him but that would only ruin the moment. She knew Daryl well enough to know that getting him this far was a big hurdle –her telling him she loved him would only make him pull back again.

"You what?" he said nipping at her bottom lip.

"Kiss me," she said delicately. Without letting him respond she pressed her lips to his once more. She assaulted his mouth with her lips and her hands on his body as she ran her hands up his chest over his cut up flannel shirt.

Daryl broke the kiss then and kissed along her jawline then down along her neck and collarbone. Her sweet mewls filled the air and so did the evident arousal he was feeling at that moment. He pressed his hips up into hers letting her feel just how turned on he was then. All his inexperience went out the door then –he felt confident enough with himself to know that whatever he had to offer her –she would take it. She would take it with open loving arms and although Daryl was scared shitless at that moment –he didn't care anymore.

Carol was right –he was right. They could die right now. Dying knowing he never got the chance to show the woman he cared so much about how he felt would make his death seem that much worse. He didn't want to think about it that way but it was the sad truth.

Carol moaned into his mouth then breaking him from his thoughts once more as he gripped her hands linking their fingers together as he rose them above her head letting his lips travel south on her neck.

"Daryl," she breathed out arching into his body squeezing his hands in her own as he rose them above her head against the door. She closed her eyes throwing her head back against the cool metal as his teeth scraped along her throat and his lips kissed the marks. Just then she felt him release her hands wrapping his arms around her thin waist before pulling her into his body once again as he captured her mouth with his.

Daryl pushed her back against the desk ledge that ran along the tower windows just before he moved his hands to her sides again only this time breaking the kiss to lift her up a few feet from the ground to sit her on the ledge. He took that moment to look at her face –she really was a beautiful woman. When she smiled at him he was suddenly aware of his boldness in the situation and felt himself grow a little self-conscious. Then when her small hand cupped his cheek he forgot about it all –she reeled him in again kissing his lips softly. Daryl nudged her knees apart settling himself to stand between her legs now as he pushed her back up against the glass.

It never occurred to him that someone could be standing in the prison yard looking up at them –then again he was too distracted to really care.

He broke the kiss again to move his hands along her sides to lift her shirt up over her head and when he did he watched her cover herself suddenly with her forearms. Daryl was getting the impression then that she was second guessing herself with him. He paused his movements as he held onto her shirt just as he slipped it completely off her body.

"What's wrong?" he asked her with a slight crack in his voice. When she didn't answer quick enough for him he pulled back slightly still hanging onto her shirt. "I'm sorry… this … bad idea," he mumbled shaking his head before feeling her hands come out to snatch his wrists to pull him closer to her once again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered softly furrowing her brows together looking down at the small space between them balling her fists up against her chest to cover herself.

"What is it?"

She looked at him then and bit her bottom lip shaking her head. "I –I might not be – I –I mean I don't really have the best looking body," she whispered out softly.

Daryl smirked then seeing the surprised look on her face to his reaction before he stepped back slightly. Just enough to remove his shirt from his body along with his vest, "mines' aint either," he said to her softly stepping back into the moonlight so she could see his scared up chest and shoulders.

Carol looked at his body in awe. She had only seen him shirtless a few times and those times were short lived by other things going on around them. Also because she knew he didn't like to take his shirt off around the others if he could help it.

Tossing his shirt to the side with hers he moved his hand over hers slowly prying them away from her body so he could look at her. She was thin, no doubt about that –her body had visible scars much like his own and her breasts –they were perfect. He hesitated for a moment before moving one of her hands over his heart –where his biggest scar laid ridged against his flesh. He watched her closely as she focused on her hand tracing the ugly mark on his chest. He noticed she seemed to forget her own body insecurities for the time being to focus on his as she leaned in and kissed the scar she had been tracing.

"You're beautiful," she whispered moving her head to look up at him. She chuckled softly seeing the uncomfortable look on his face then, she knew he wasn't expecting her to say that but it was true. He really was beautiful.

Noticing she wasn't making fun of him he finally relaxed his body under her touch before feeling her foot run along the back of his thigh.

"Yer' sure 'bout this…" he said softly.

She nodded once arching her hips into his slightly wrapping her legs around his waist to pull him closer, "I'm more than sure," she whispered huskily against his chin cupping the side of his face burring her face in his neck to nip and kiss along the tender scared flesh that laid beneath her lips.

Daryl groaned loudly moving one hand into her hair softly tugging it with her soft nips and licks along his neck. It was then he felt her small hands move between them and she started to unbutton his pants. He pulled back slightly to gain her better access. He noticed the way her body and hands trembled as she worked on his zipper. He took a moment to look at her face then, she looked just as nervous as he felt right then. Feeling her push his pants down he stopped her halfway feeling his jeans slip down along his ankles making a pile on the floor. He moved his hands then along her sides and worked the button on her pants to remove them.

When she didn't hesitate to arch up so he could remove them he noticed she went commando under her trousers just as he had. They both started to laugh slightly and it was then he knew she had the same thing in mind.

"No point of wearing panties anymore," she noted.

"Jus' more clothes to wash," he said in return.

Carol nodded looking at his body up and down; she looked along his chest and below his bellybutton to see his cock laying thick and heavy along his stomach. She gasped slightly at the sight before looking up into his eyes –she wanted this man so badly.

Daryl watched the way she looked at him then –the noise she made. Did she disapprove? More importantly why was he asking himself such a dumb as question –he felt like a fucking girl right then. Watching her watching him he took the moment to look over her thin body –she was proportioned perfect. She was thin just like the rest of them but she had a muscle to her that was sexy as hell.

They had all pulled their weight during the winter season –they had all learned to defend themselves in one way or another. But no one stepped up their game like this woman did and for that Daryl was proud of her.

Letting those thoughts go he felt her press close against his body, breasts to chest as her arms wrapped around his neck to pull his face close to hers. He nipped at her lips softly before moving his hand between them to grip his cock. He felt her arch her hips into his as he teased her clit with the head of his shaft. They both groaned together at the contact. It had been so long for him and he was sure as hell it had had been a long while for her as well. She hadn't come right out and said anything to him directly but she had insinuated that the last few years of her and her dead husbands marriage they never had sex and Daryl was willing to bet that Carol was fine with that.

He was a nasty son of a bitch anyhow.

Daryl growled internally at the thought of that bastard before he felt her hand on his cheek. His eyes snapped to hers then seeing the confusion and worry on her face. He smiled at her then to let her know everything was ok just as he slipped his dick inside of her. He shuddered hard against her body just as she quivered against his.

"Fuck," he said softly against her shoulder.

Carol giggled softly at his outburst clutching his shoulders as he pulled her hips harder into his. When he slipped inside of her all the way it was her that let out a muffled, "fuck."

Daryl leaned up and smirked at her in surprise –he had never heard her cuss really. The other day she said "bullshit" but that was nothing compared to the foul mouth she had now. To say the least –it was fucking hot.

Taking a moment to compose himself, he let her adjust to his girth before he steadied his hips and moved them in and out against her at a slow pace.

Carol closed her eyes for a moment throwing her head back feeling Daryl burry his face in the column of her throat as he pumped his way in and out of her tight core. For a rough –tough as nails man he sure was gentle with her. It was a nice change from the rough and tumble she got with Ed. Although that had been years ago by this point, it didn't matter the memory still stayed with her.

It was all she had known… until now.

Every time she got the urge to think about making love –this moment –this man would be all she could think about.

"Mmm," she moaned out faintly moving her head forward feeling her body jerk with his every motion.

Daryl lifted his head to look at her with squinting eyes. He was still having a hard time believing this was really happening with her. They had come so far as people –friends –family and now here they were together –really together and Daryl couldn't explain the swell that was inside of his chest now.

This woman did the unimaginable to him.

Carol took that moment to roll her hips against his causing him to stop his motion for a moment. She frowned thinking she had done something wrong before feeling him slam into her slightly causing a low moan to come from her lips as she dug her nails into his back.

"Yer' gonna be the death of me, woman!" he said with a low seductive voice.

With a smile of happiness she pushed her hips into his feeling the length of his girth stretch her completely while he gripped the back of her neck crashing his lips to hers. Daryl pumped his way in and out of her at a steady pace before feeling the build up at the pit of his stomach. He knew his release was coming and he could tell by the way her walls contracted around his dick she was close too. He broke the kiss then with those thoughts and rocked inside of her faster watching her head roll back to look at him.

The smile on her face and the clinching of her pussy walls did it for him –without warning, keeping his pace, Daryl shot his hot seed inside of her.

Carol screamed out loud feeling a jolt to her body at that moment as she too, came like a wildfire out of control. She felt Daryl's lips on hers once again to muffle her scream as she held onto him for dear life. Her legs clinched around his waist tightly as well as her arms around his neck.

Daryl panted into her mouth, pressing his forehead to hers as he started to slow himself inside of her.

The air was thick with their moans as Daryl pulled away from her a little to see the beads of sweat rolling between her breasts. Watching her look around he heard her giggle slightly.

"What?" he said with a hidden smile. When she didn't respond right away he looked around at the fogginess of the tower windows that surrounded them. He blushed slightly as he pulled out of her and stepped back to let her stand.

Carol got to her feet and swayed into him just as he gripped her upper arms to steady her. She wasn't sure where they were supposed to go from here –she knew they both acted on instinct with their chat they had not minutes before their kissing session began. This was a "no regrets" moment for them –they could die tomorrow and if they did she would be ok with that. She would die knowing she finally got to be with the man she loved. She wasn't sure where they were going to go from here –would it be awkward between them now? Would he hate her tomorrow for what just happened?

As the worry set in her mind it must have shown on her face as well because Daryl cupped her cheek then and smiled at her. She smiled back at him placing her hand over top of his to squeeze it feeling his lips gently press to hers. This was a gentle side of him she thought she'd never see –she loved it. Then he spoke and all her worry went away…

"We're gonna' be ok…" he whispered to her dropping his hand. "I promise."

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**I can handle truth.. go on tell me… was it good or no good? I didn't want this to happen right away but as I wrote it.. it just happened much like it "just happened" with Daryl and Carol in this chapter. It felt right anyways… and if I do say so myself they were pretty into it =)**

**I think I'll be posting two more chapters and this story will be done… I haven't decided just yet. But in the mean time I hope you all are enjoying this story of mine. You reviews are much appreciated and I do hope you all know that! I'm getting to my reads/reviews and PM's here soon. I'm a little behind…. Epp! =)**

**Please let me know what you think! Hitting that little review button makes me a happy girl!**


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